The importance of Negros Occidental’s coastal wetlands is gaining a further boost with the results of the recent expedition and waterbird counts in Cadiz City in the northern part of the province. The survey findings indicate that the wetlands in Cadiz may qualify for recognition as another Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in Negros Occidental.
The site is specifically located along the coastal intertidal flats stretching from Talaban River to the estuaries of Sicaba River, and extending to the most part of the shoreline in Barangay Daga to Barangay Cadis Viejo in Cadiz City.
The Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area, spanning from Bago City to the municipality of Ilog, was the first Ramsar Site of the province. Lisa Paguntalan, Executive Director of the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (PhilBio), who led the survey said the two main criteria of the Ramsar Convention were satisfied, and these are the presence of threatened species and the population that reached at least one percent of the East Asian Australian Flyway (EAAF), which is one of the nine globally recognized migratory routes. The Cadiz wetlands are also important sources of coastal communities’ livelihood.
The Cadiz wetlands hold the second largest population, next to the NOCWCA, in the Philippines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature-listed endangered Great Knot. The counts of this species, scientifically known as Calidristenuirostris, reached about 1.6 percent of the EAAF population share and it surpassed the minimum of one percent threshold to qualify for Ramsar site.
These wetlands also garnered a significant population, estimated at more than 1,000 individuals, of the near-threatened Black-tailed Godwit (Limosalimosa). Collectively, Cadiz wetlands ranked third holding such a population of the Black-tailed Godwit in the Philippines, while the two other sites are Bulacan and the NOCWCA.
Another globally endangered species, the Far Eastern Curlew (Numeniusmadagascariensis), locally identified as “Sansuyan”, was similarly recorded along the intertidal flats in Barangay Daga, as well as the vulnerable Chinese Egret (Egrettaeulophotes). Both species have been photographed. Seven other near threatened species were recorded in the Cadiz Wetlands, and these are the Bar-tailed Godwits (LimosaLapponica), Asiatic Dowitcher (Limnodramussemipalmatus), Grey-tailed Tattler (Heteroscelusbrevipes), Red Knot (Calidriscanutus), Eurasian Curlew (Numeniusarcuatus), Malay Plover (Charadriusperonii), Red-necked Stint (Calidrisruficollis), and Curlew Sandpiper (Calidrisferruginea).
The waterbird count, which was conducted by the PhilBio in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Cadiz City local government, and Philippine Normal University, yielded a total record of 50 species comprising seven families of waterbirds.
Migratory birds regularly frequent to the Philippines for shelter and food. They are usually found along coastal mudflats, lakes, rivers, marshes, grasslands, and even forests. They are protected under the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds, otherwise known as the Bonn Convention, of which the Philippines is one of the state parties. This treaty, also called the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), provides a sort of a “visa” for migratory species to land in foreign countries.
At present, there are eight declared Wetlands of International Importance in the Philippines – Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and Puerto Princesa Underground River Natural Park in Palawan, Naujan Lake National Park in Oriental Mindoro, Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Agusan del Sur, Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Cebu, Sasmuan Pampanga Coastal Wetlands in Manila Bay, Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area in Parañaque City, and Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area.
There are at least 100 species of waterbirds documented in Negros Island. According to Paguntalan, in Pulupandan wetlands alone, at least 43 species of waterbirds were observed and a total of 87 waterbirds (excluding pelagic birds) were identified in NOCWCA. In November 2020, a photo of thousands of the Endangered Great Knot Calidristenuirostris and the near-threatened Black-tailed Godwits Limosalimosa was taken in the coastal wetlands of Barangay Daga, Cadiz City.*