Do you love birds?
As you all know: I love nature. I grew up in a very small German village surrounded by forests, rivers, small lakes, and cornfields. It was very easy for me also to start loving animals. Especially dogs - and birds… .
It’s the first time, since living in the Philippines, to be informed about a Philippine Bird Festival, entitled “Aba, Kakaiba”, which will be held on September 12-14 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. It really aims to raise awareness of the diverse birdlife in Palawan and local efforts to protect the forests, wetlands and coastal habitats in the province.
Tourism Secretary Ace Durano voiced out at the media launch of the bird festival: “Of all tourism packages we’ve introduced this year, bird-watching is the most challenging and exciting, It will open up unestablished destinations in the Philippines to the world.” How very true… . It could be also a challenge for other local governments to follow this example.
And what did Michael Lu, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines say? “Habitat loss from ill-planned development and urban pressure is the greatest thread to bird population and other wildlife. Hopefully we can get more communities and professional planers involved in developing ways to help wild life through green spaces and nature-friendly property management.”
By the way, we are talking about environment protecting: I was shocked and then very satisfied after reading the report from Iloilo City: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has filed a criminal complaint against one of its municipal environment officers (!) and three others (!) for the illegal cutting of a century-old narra tree (!) inside the Balubog Putian National Park (?!) in Dingle, Iloilo…! The narra tree has been cut into pieces into commercial lumber reaching 4,744 board feet worth at least 284,000 Pesos! One of the to be charged persons was the community environment and natural resources officer of Barotac Nuevo, which supervise the 854-hectare National Park.
What do you think?
Hey Klaus I didn’t know of your health problems till now. I hope you turn the corner on it and get better! I got a habit of worrying and getting uptight about things myself and I think it is bad medicine. I think I should probably watch more Tom and Jerry cartoons to learn how to interact with people better. What you think Klaus?
Hi John, thanks for stopping by… Yeah, this is really a bad medicine. I don’t know if cartoons help much. Do it like me: try to go back to normal life.. It works. Your comment was a little bit off topic, but I appreciate very much your concern. Don’t worry, I turn already the corner on it… take care and stay safe always…
I just tried to make you laugh, you talked about loving animals. I am glad you are getting better Klaus. It is shocking that a person being paid to care about environmental issues would do that! I wonder how many times it was done an the person never got caught.
Hi John, thanks for making me laugh indeed. I really love to watch cartoons too, especially if the whole TV is such a mess…
Yeah, you are right, unfortunately there are so many more incidents as mentioned above. Such people never got caught, and such incidents have never been published… 
Hi Klaus,
Did you know that the Agusan Marsh is home to a wide variety of birds that migrate to Mindanao from Japan every year? There are a bunch of species that spend their summers in Japan and fly to the Agusan Marsh to enjoy the winter months. I’m told there are organized tours where you can see lots of waterfowl and see the floating villages of different people who live out in the marsh. It wouldn’t be the typical beach vacation people normally look for, but I bet it would be interesting for more adventurous nature travelers.
Cheers!
Hi Martin, thanks a lot for stopping by and leaving this important comment. No, I haven’t know about it and I am sure many readers too. Yeah, you are right, it would be interesting indeed for more adventurous nature travellers. Count me in…
Hi Klaus, hope you are feeling better. I was telling my cousin about you and he told me he has finally met you in a Rotary club meeting.
This topic is so interesting - it seems like we are thinking alike. I was just blogging to randy C of http://journeytosamal.blogspot.com/ about the high number of birds here on Samal and your article about birds came out. I’ve never seen some of them on the mainland - like the beautiful blue colored ones. I love listening to them, especially early in the morning.
Hi Klaus,Hope you are now well.I’m afraid personal greed against nature happens everywhere.Education of the masses is the only answer,but takes time.What a very sad planet this would be without the glory of nature,regards Chas.
Hi Ellen, thanks for your comment and kind words. yeah, I am doing better now… You are right, on Samal Island one can watch a lot of more birds then even years ago… thanks for the link, i found it very interesting…
Hi Chas, you are so very right. THANKS A LOT… but it seems, that many people don’t think like us…