THE home of bats in the southern town of Dalaguete got bigger.
This, as the heirs of Eugenio Belandres turned over their rights to 4,472 square meters of land in the upland barangay of Lanao to the Municipal Government to provide a habitat for flying foxes.
The Municipal Council authorized Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante to accept the deed of donation from Zosima Ibarola, representative of the heirs of Belandres.
Ibarola held a tax declaration on the lot, classified as timberland, an area that cannot be privately owned. As a token for planting trees on the lot, the Municipal Government gave Ibarola P20,000.
Lisa Paguntalan of the Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (PBCF) said that the forest in Lanao serves as home to the golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus), little golden-mantled flying fox (Pteropus pumilus) and the large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus).
Endangered
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies the golden-crowned flying fox as an endangered species while the large flying fox and the little golden-mantled flying fox are near-threatened.
The Municipal Government of Dalaguete vowed to plant more trees in Lanao, which forms part of the flying foxes’ sanctuary.
The Dalaguete forest patch, which covers about 500 hectares, is part of the remaining .3 percent forest cover of Cebu mainland and an important component of the Nug-as Forest-Palinpinon Range-Mt. Lantoy key biodiversity area.
Paguntalan said that few local governments are as committed as Dalaguete in wildlife conservation. She said that she has not yet heard of any local government unit that is willing to purchase land to provide habitats for wildlife.
Aside from the bats, the forest in Dalaguete is also the home of the Cebu flowerpecker, Cebu black shama and Cebu hawk-owl, all endemic to Cebu.
Sanctuary
The Dalaguete Municipal Government established its own biodiversity conservation management program. It also declared the forest as bird and wildlife sanctuary and allotted funds for community-based forest and wildlife protection.
The Municipal Government also implemented a habitat restoration program, which involves the expansion of the natural forest.
Paguntalan said bats play a vital role in biological biodiversity because they are natural pollinators—they help expand natural vegetation through their droppings.
She said the population of flying foxes in Dalaguete is rising. Research and monitoring by PBCF noted that the number of flying foxes dropped below 1,000 in 2004 but last January, surveys found 2,500 individuals.
Paguntalan said, though, that while the survey indicates how effective Dalaguete’s efforts have been so far, the conservation of the species requires the proper management of an ecosystem network.
The forests in Dalaugete is adjacent to forest patches in Alcoy and Argao.