ROXAS CITY, Capiz (PIA) — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Capiz is in the process of conducting an assessment at the Gabuc Mangrove Wetlands and Birds Sanctuary at Barangay Gabuc in Pontevedra town in a bid to push the area for inclusion into the list of Convention on Wetlands of International Importance or popularly known as “Ramsar Convention.”
Ramsar is a wetland in Iran where the Convention was signed in 1971.
DENR Provincial Head Forester Vicente Sardina, during the Kapihan program of the Capiz Information Center of the Philippine Information Agency and Capiz provincial government, said that funding for the inventory and protection of wildlife in it will be secured if the GMWBS complies with the criteria as a Ramsar site.
The 239.9 swampy area boasts mangrove reforestation as well as beach forest development projects site of the DENR since 2015.
The fisherfolk associations in the village have been recipients of capacity-building activities conducted by the DENR, Department of Tourism, and Capiz Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office.
“Actually the area has a vibrant wildlife that is why there is a need to sustain it as this gives stability in the environment,” added Sardina.
It is also home to about 36 bird species based on the Asian Water Bird Census from 2019 to 2024, making it an ideal mangrove and bird-watching ecopark.
The bird species documented in the area include Philippine Ducks, Chinese Egrets, Wandering Whutling Duck, Java Sparrow, Little Crebe, Javan Pond Heron, Little Egret, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank, and Sandpiper.
The intergovernmental treaty on wetlands has designated Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Agusan DelSur, Las Piñas–Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area, Naujan LakeNational Park in Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area, Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Cebu, Sasmuan Pampanga Coastal Wetlands in Pampanga, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, both in Palawan, as Ramsar sites in the country since 1984. (AGP/AAL/PIA Capiz)
