Southern Leyte Is Rich In Biodiversity-Survey By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte-The province of Southern Leyte is one of the provinces in the country that is rich in biodiversity according to a survey. The less than two months survey was a joint effort by the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau/New Conservation Area in the Philippines(PAWB/NewCAPP),Forest Management Bureau/German Development Cooperation-Climate relevant modernization of forest policy and Piloting of Reducing Emissions form Deforestation and forest Degradation(REDD) in the Philippines(FMB/GIZ/REDD) through Fauna and Flora International(FFI) in coordination with DENR-Region 8 and PENRO Southern Leyte The ground survey was also participated in by local universities and representatives from LGUs. The selected areas that were subjected for study/survey in its faun and flora were Maasin, Tomas Oppus, Malitbog, Sogod, Hinunangan and Silago. The activities conducted according to a reprt distributed to the press were: 1)Identified and compared habitat types based on natural and land-use stratification;2)determined anthropogenic factors influencing overstorey and understorey vegetation;3)listed species baseline for future protected area management plans and monitoring programmes;4)provided a guide for the design and implementation of management intervention for specific species survival within and

across their range in Southern Leyte; 5)modeled of species responses and /or communities to various land cover-uses. Result of the survey/study were: 229 flora species in 65 families, with 31 Philippines endemics; 10 IUCN-critically endangered species which are mostly Dipterocarp species and 20 IUCN-vulnerable species; terrestrial vertebrates accounted in the survey totaled to 252 species (Burds:112 species,mammals:36 species,Herpetofauna:64 species). Of the 112 species of birds, 41 are endemic to the Philippines and 14 are endemic to the Visayas and the Greater Mindanao faunal region. Among the 41 endemic species, eleven (11) are in the IUCN-threatened category. A total of 36 species of mammals belonging to 15 families were rrecorded,17 species(47%)are Philippines endemics of which 8 are restricted only to the Mindanao faunal region. Threatened mammal species recorded in the survey, include the Golden capped fruit bat( Acerodon jubatus),endangered(EN),Sus barbatus mindonesis vulnerable(VU),the large flyng fox Pteropus vampyrus,the Philippine forest horshoe bat(Rhinolophus inops) and the Philippines tarsier(Tarsius syrichta) which are all endemic in the Philippines. There are a total of 69 species, 25species are frogs belonging to 7families; 23 species are lizards belonging to 5 families; 20 species of snakes and one specie of terrestrial turtle. The report further stated that the general pattern of the species accumulation curves of the vertebrates found luring the survey showed to approach the asymptote.

It also showed that the combination of the anthropogenic and natural factors played a major role on species distribution and diversity.Consequently, highly disturbed areas resulted in low diversity. Moreover, based on the practical knowledge and strategic specieshabitat information gathered as the result of the biodiversity assessment or survey/study, the report said, it will serve as the blueprint/guide in drafting the management plan in the protection and conservation of the remaining natural resources of MT. Nacolod and Southern Leyte.(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)