Sasmuan’s coastal wetland gets Ramsar site designation

PAMPANGA. Sasmuan Wetlands. (DENR Central Luzon photo)
PAMPANGA. Sasmuan Wetlands. (DENR Central Luzon photo)

ITS sheer size and importance in maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region had catapulted the Sasmuan Pampanga Coastal Wetland (SPCW) to the latest addition to the Ramsar Site or Wetland of International Importance.

This came after it was declared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) based in Quezon City and the Ramsar secretariat based in Gland, Switzerland during the celebration of World Wetlands Day on February 2.

DENR Central Luzon Executive Director Paquito Moreno, Jr. said SPCW is the eighth Ramsar Site in the country and first in Central Luzon covering more than 3,500 hectares of coastal waters and four barangays in Sasmuan town in Pampanga.

“We are honored and fortunate that the annual celebration of World Wetland Day has become more significant and special because the SPCW is now officially declared as “Wetlands of International Importance,” he said.

He explained that SPCW met four of the nine criteria of Ramsar Site before it was considered as internationally important.

“We met criteria 2 and 3, which means that SPCW supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities, and play a big role in maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region,” he said.

Moreno added that SPCW also met criteria 5 and 6, indicating that SPCW regularly supports 20,000 or more water birds and that it provides to 1.0 percent of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.

“SPCW is a vital component of our environment and its declaration as Ramsar site is an integral part of our strategies in cleaning and rehabilitating our Manila Bay,” he said.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (Penro) in Pampanga Laudemir Salac said more than 80,000 migratory birds composed of 63 species have been observed in SPCW during the January 2021 Asian Waterbird Census (AWC).

“We really need to protect this important ecosystem because of numerous benefits to our local communities and our biodiversity,” he said.

Moreno expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the local government of Pampanga and Sasmuan for their support in the DENR programs in Pampanga, and appealed to the public for their active collaboration to sustain the development and protection of SPCW.

DENR records show that Chinese egret, Spotted greenshank, Asian dowitcher, Philippine duck, Philippine fred tail, Grey backed-tailor bird are some of the species frequently visiting SPCW.

A study by Jansen in 2018 found out that 46 percent of the waterbird species in the Philippines were observed in SPCW.

The 405-hectare Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (SBMCHEA) is one of the valuable ecosystems found within the SPCW, is an important habitat to migratory birds and mangrove species including the Avicennia rumphiana or locally known as Api-api.

SBMCHEA, which is part of the large and enclosed sea of Manila Bay, is a mangrove islet in Pasak River that was formed by the volcanic sediments from Mount Pinatubo’s devastating eruption in 1991.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty which the Philippines is a signatory, provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

The Convention was adopted in the Iranian City of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975, since then almost 90 percent of UN member states, from all the world’s geographic regions, have acceded to become “Contracting Parties.”

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph