Eagle foundation proposes species action plan for Cotabato after shooting, electrocution cases

The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) has proposed a Provincial Philippine Eagle Species Action Plan to steer Cotabato Province's long-term protection of the critically endangered national bird and its forest habitat, according to Edge Davao.

PEF Director for Operations Dr. Jayson Ibañez presented the framework on Friday to Cotabato Governor Emmylou "Lala" Taliño-Mendoza and members of the province's wildlife inter-agency task force at the provincial capitol in Barangay Amas, Kidapawan City.

The plan would set priority conservation measures, assign responsibilities to agencies and lay out how protection efforts will be sustained in the coming years. PEF is proposing to work with the provincial government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippine National Police and the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (COTELCO), along with local communities, to protect at least five known Philippine Eagle pairs and their forests.

A centrepiece is a province-wide power line retrofitting programme with COTELCO aimed at reducing the risk of eagles being electrocuted. Ibañez said the project could make North Cotabato the first province in the country to make its power lines safer for the eagles on a province-wide scale.

The proposal follows two incidents in October. An eagle died in Arakan after being electrocuted by a power line, and a necropsy also found two wounds from air-gun pellets. Another eagle rescued in Magpet had three air-gun pellet wounds and is recovering at a veterinary clinic in Davao City.

The plan also covers community-based nest protection and cooperation with the PNP's Kontra Boga campaign to stop the shooting and hunting of eagles. It supports enforcement of Republic Act 9147, the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001, which penalises killing, harming and illegally exploiting protected wildlife.

Ibañez said cooperation among government, communities and businesses could make the province a model for eagle conservation, "showing how government, communities, and businesses can work together to protect our national bird for future generations."