RP strengthens niche as birdwatching hub

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines, especially Cebu is strengthening its niche to attract at least 58 million birdwatchers from United Kingdom and the United States, emphasizing the rich number of unique bird-species in the “Pearl of the Orient.”

Cebu for instance, is capitalizing on the “Flowerpecker” only found in the forest of Tabunan and Alcoy, as the world’s third rarest bird.

“Birdwatching is one of the fastest growing re-creational activities in the United States, and UK, it’s relatively cheap compared to scuba diving and other forms of adventure tourism,” said Department of Tourism secretary Joseph Ace Durano.

Pushing birdwatching activity in the Philippines is one of the niche attractions for the country, considering that there are least 200 kinds of unique bird species found only in the Philippines.

In United Kingdom there are a total of 50 million certified bird-watching enthusiasts that travel around the world. These are members of different birdwatching groups. In the United States, about eight million are members of similar organizations.

Durano said pushing the bird-watching activity in the Philippines will not only bring in double-growth for the tourism industry, but it will also give livelihood to mountain folks in the remote parts of the country.

In the last two years, when the DOT started its program to promote “birdwatching” activity in the Philippines, Durano said awareness of the world bird watching market for the Philippines has improved.

Recently, DOT has inked a deal with the Cebu Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (CBCFI) to protect the critically endangered Cebu “Flowerpecker” (Dicaeum quadricolor), which is the most severely threatened Flowerpecker specie on the planet. It is endemic to Cebu Island and occurs nowhere else.

According to Durano, although protection of this species is more on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) jurisdiction, the DOT also has to extend its hands in helping the protection of natural resources especially those that bring in influx of tourists to the country.

He said the promotion of DOT is now moving towards promoting the natural resources found in the mountainous areas, and birdwatching has the huge potential along with mountain trekking, among others.

Most hard-core birdwatching enthusiasts spend their money lavishly on traveling from one area to another just to see the most endangered bird species in the world, and the Philippines, has the most number of these unique birds in Asia.

These kinds of specialized market are long-staying tourists, and stay at two to three weeks in the country. “If they spend at least US$100 a day, that’s good enough to bring in revenue especially for the host community.”

Durano said most tourism traffic in the Philippines now is into coastal areas for the beaches and diving. This time, tourism traffic will be brought up to the mountain and interior sides, and birdwatching is one of the most attractive come-ons.

“We have so many things that are taken for granted. This kind of promotion will bring in big potential to remote communities for tourism development,” Durano said.

The 58 million birdwatching enthusiasts in UK and US do not include the growing number of birdwatchers from Japan, and China.

Birdwatching’s now a major offering of the Philippines, as the country is home to an impressive number of bird species, many of which are found only in this part of the world.

With scattered islands forming an archipelago, a good number of species have become island-endemic or clumped in tiny habitats.