19th pawikan nest discovered in Aboitiz Cleanergy Park
The Aboitiz Cleanergy Park, an eight-hectare outdoor biodiversity park in Davao City managed by the Aboitiz Foundation and Davao Light, welcomed the 19th pawikan nest on its property since 2014 and its third for the year, only two weeks after the discovery of the park’s first and second pawikan nests for 2017.
Located in Punta Dumalag, Davao City, the park showcases urban-based habitat conservation and biodiversity management. It is one of the few identified nesting sites of the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (pawikan), and is also home to 66 other species.
The latest pawikan nest was discovered last February 8 during an ocular inspection of the park’s foreshore lease area and contained pawikan eggs which were transferred by Davao Light team members to the park’s hatchery. Barangay Punta Dumalag and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources were already informed of the discovery.
A female pawikan is known to lay eggs three to five times in two-week intervals during mating seasons (barring no unnecessary disturbances), and the eggs’ incubation period is expected to last between 50 to 60 days. Prior to the discovery of the third pawikan nest, the park’s first and second pawikan nests for 2017 were discovered last January 10 and 25, respectively.
“We are happy to welcome the latest batch of pawikans to the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park. We will ensure that they continue making the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park their breeding ground and sanctuary by creating surrounding communities that are safe, sustainable, and empowered,” said Maribeth L. Marasigan, Aboitiz Foundation First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
In addition to being a pawikan sanctuary, the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park is also a haven for various species of trees, birds and fish through a mangrove forest and a coastal forest, a fish sanctuary, seagrass beds and coral reefs. To encourage awareness, it is open to students, researchers, conservationists and other individuals who support environment conservation. Visitors are treated to an outdoor biodiversity learning experience via its mixed natural and built structures like the turtle viewdeck, mangrove boardwalk, learning center and observatory deck, botanical garden and nursery that will propagate the area’s 29 native tree species. Private weather information provider WeatherPhilippines Foundation has also installed an automated weather station to add to the park’s multi-biodiversity research function.
In 2016, the Aboitiz Foundation stepped up its conservation campaign with “#BetterWorld for the Pawikans,” a drive to raise funds for the protection and preservation of the hawksbill turtle in Punta Dumalag, one of the last few remaining natural habitats for this turtle specie. This fundraising will not only secure the sanctuary for the hawksbill turtles but also spread greater public awareness on how everyone can help ensure its survival amid climate change and environmental degradation. As of January 2017, 19 nests and 2,726 eggs have been found, 2,655 eggs have been transferred, and 1,876 hatchlings have been released.
As part of its Environment for a #BetterWorld campaign, the Aboitiz Foundation spearheads the implementation of programs that promote environmental conservation and biodiversity enhancement, which in turn supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically on Life Below Water (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development) and Life on Land (Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss).
Through the active participation of Aboitiz team members across the Group, the organization ensures that it is doing its part in caring for the planet while building a sustainable enterprise that can be entrusted to future generations. Among these initiatives include the Race to Reduce program that underpins the Aboitiz Group’s commitment to the efficient use of enterprise resources, the A-Park Program which aims to plant nine million trees nationwide by 2020, and the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park.
