The Philippines is recognized by major conservation organizations as a high priority for urgent conservation action. The country has high levels of endemism arising from its geological history, but its wildlife and environments are facing huge pressures from widespread habitat loss, ineffective implementation of wildlife laws and very low community awareness across all sectors of society of the uniqueness of their wildlife.

The plight of the Philippine Crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis) was recognized in 1983, when a nationwide survey indicated the total wild population comprised no more than 1,000 individuals. Hunting over the 1950s and 60s, followed by incremental loss of isolated crocodiles and ongoing habitat loss had decimated the population. Two captive breeding facilities were subsequently established, based on the view that the species could not be protected in the wild “until public sentiment and awareness of conservation permit effective protection and implementation of reintroduction programs”. In 1992, the species was considered by the IUCN’s Crocodile Specialist Group as one of the most threatened crocodilians in the world. It remains so today and is listed as Critically Endangered.

The two most important threats to the survival of this species in the wild are habitat loss and widespread negative community attitudes towards crocodiles generally in the Philippines. However, these factors impact on all wildlife in the Philippines and are compounded by a serious lack of awareness of Philippine wildlife by Filipinos.

The Philippines has wildlife laws that are designed to protect its environment and wildlife, but it suffers from a chronic lack of capacity to implement those laws. This is exacerbated in remote rural areas, where people are poor and government services are inadequate. In recent decades, civil insurgency in some parts of the country have prevented protection or even study of wildlife; for example in Mindanao Island, where large marsh systems were a stronghold for Philippine Crocodiles.

Sustaining wildlife conservation in the Philippines is problematic, but a growing number of community-based programs are demonstrating that this can be achieved. These are making use of the Local Government Code, a far-sighted piece of legislation passed in 1990 and which enables power and responsibility for managing community affairs, including natural resource management, to be devolved to local communities, rather than being retained at the national level. This is a key factor in the success of the Mabuwaya Foundation’s program in northern Luzon.

Zoos Victoria's conservation field partners

Our key field partner is the Mabuwaya Foundation, which was established in 2003 by Filipino and Dutch biologists and registered in the Philippines as a non-government organization. The Foundation works very closely with the San Mariano Municipal Government and local mayors and their communities.

The Foundation also facilitates a wide range of joint projects through Isabela State University (Philippines) and Leiden University (Netherlands) under the banner of the Cagayan Valley Program for the Environment & Development.

In addition to the field program supported by ZV, we work with the Department of Environment & Natural Resources - Protected Areas & Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB) to facilitate global zoo support.