The Talarak Foundation, Inc. highlighted the need for wildlife captive breeding and enhanced conservation initiatives to protect endangered species that are at risk, especially in the Visayas region.
Matt Ward, executive director of Talarak Foundation, Inc., spoke on the importance of “breeding conservation” during the opening of the two-day 9th National Wildlife Quiz and Festival at the Macias Sports Center in Dumaguete City.
Ward told students and educators taking part in the Wildlife Quiz that conservation efforts can be done both in the wild and through captive breeding.
When wildlife species are threatened in their natural habitats, captive conservation is the best option for their preservation.
Captive conservation involves protecting species outside their natural habitat in controlled settings such as zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, and seed banks.
“This is especially necessary when natural habitats like forests are destroyed. Those animals that lived in that forest have nowhere to go, and if we did nothing, they would die,” he said.
He added captive conservation provides these animals with a safe environment where they can reproduce until they are ready to return to the wild.
Talarak Foundation, Inc. is a Negros-based conservation group that breeds and maintains endangered endemic species for release into the wild.
Some of the endangered species in Negros are the Visayan Warty Pig, Visayan hornbill, and the Negros bleeding heart pigeon.
Wildlife Quiz
Meanwhile, 31 schools from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao participated in the 9th Wildlife Quiz over the weekend at the Macias Sports Complex and Silliman University, respectively, in Dumaguete.
Since its inception in 2016, the NWQ has grown into one of the country’s most impactful environmental education platforms, engaging thousands of students and educators across the Philippines.
The NWQ promotes key Philippine policies: Republic Act 9512 on November as Environmental Awareness Month and environmental education; Republic Act 9147 on protecting threatened wildlife; PBSAP 2015–2028 on integrating biodiversity in education; and commitments to the Kunming-Montreal Framework emphasizing youth empowerment to prevent biodiversity loss by 2030.
First Gen–owned Energy Development Corporation (First Gen-EDC) partnered with PhilBio and key stakeholders — including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Education – Negros Oriental, and the provincial government — to stage the 9th National Wildlife Festival, themed “Know Nature, Know Future: Empowering Wildlife Champions.”
Engineer Noel Tan, head of the EDC Southern Negros geothermal plants in Valencia, Negros Oriental, said the company supports conservation efforts due to its site’s large, wildlife-diverse region, including threatened species. (PNA)