Vanishing wetlands threatens Arctic bird migration

Thirty years ago the marshes covered some 32,000 hectares but thanks to the spread of agriculture and urbanization just 72 hectares remain. Today, ornithologists count some 12,000 birds a day — a fraction of the number three decades ago. “In the 1980s they would routinely count 100,000 wild Philippine ducks and mainland Asian garganays [wild ducks] in one day, just for the two species,” said Michael Lu, president of Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

Among the 50 or so wetland areas in the Philippines, the Candaba swamps — covered in reeds and water hyacinths and bisected by high earthen levees — are a key staging ground for birds ranging from huge purple herons to tiny Arctic warblers that return to continental Asia in the spring.

They had flown several thousand kilometers south months earlier, just before the winter.

But as the swamp has shrunk so too, of course, has the supply of fish, snails, insects and other food. What remains is hemmed in by rice paddies and communities that raise hogs and domesticated ducks.

The honking transients jostle each other on a huge fishpond owned by Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo, who has earned his environmental spurs by setting aside half the property for the seasonal visitors.

“This is the only place that remains as habitat for the birds,” said Carmela Española, a wildlife biologist for the University of the Philippines.

“A lot of the wetlands are under threat because people keep reclaiming them,” Mr. Lu said.

Since the area is all titled property, if owners drain the swamp the habitat would disappear and there is nothing the government could do, Mr. Lu said.

The Philippines situation is also unique in that a lot of people still hunt wild birds, Mr. Lu said

But the mayor has banned the trapping of birds, unilaterally declaring the marsh a protected area and asking restaurants in surrounding towns to stop serving wildlife dishes.

Mr. Pelayo said he has also asked hog farmers upstream not to dispose of pig waste in streams that empty into the swamp.

(From bworldonline.com, Candaba, Philippines)