Wildlife Management in the Philippines

• History of Wildlife Management in the Philippines reviews wildlife management, importance of wildlife studies, status of Philippine wildlife, and wildlife laws and policies

Global Context of Wildlife Management

• The history of wildlife management has undergone considerable evolution, progressing from past practices that emphasize hunting and preservation
• Industrialization and urbanization have led to organized conservation efforts

Evolution of Conservation Practices

• Conservation has shifted from local actions to global initiatives using scientific research and community involvement
• Current include habitat restoration, conservation easements, and protected areas to conserve biodiversity

What is Fieldwork?

• Fieldwork is the collection of real-world information from nature, and not in a lab or a classroom
• Practical work is done on location by a researcher
• Fieldwork observations are firsthand and uncontrolled

Why Fieldwork?

• Ecology and wildlife conservation studies the interaction of people and places, with fieldwork being essential to explain that interaction
• Fieldwork provides primary data for coursework and controlled assessments
• Fieldwork reinforces classroom teaching and learning
• Fieldwork promotes extended/open writing, encourages social skills for group work and responsibility
• Fieldwork provides opportunity of map work/drawing
• Fieldwork assists spatial reasoning and the sense of place.
• Fieldwork is crucial in both social and natural sciences, such as economics, history, biology, and chemistry
• Fieldwork allows researchers to gather data on dynamic places, people, and species and for students/ researchers to examine scientific theories with real life
• Darwin extensively used observations of Finch population beaks to create his theory of evolution

Fieldwork as a form of enquiry

• Enquiry-based fieldwork improves understanding of the environment, ecology, and progressive development of conservation skills
• Well-planned fieldwork adds value to understanding a topic
• Effective fieldwork gives better data for analysis and interpretation, but misguided fieldwork gets wrong data interpretation

Health & Safety & Risk Assessment during Fieldwork

• One must be aware of potential hazards and assess dynamically, to identify, manage/control and respond appropriately
• Management of hazards includes controlled access, or no access, and proper nature of activities
• Appropriate responses include local knowledge and adequate supervision
• Prior planning and organization, managing the organization aspects while considering the practicalities of primary collection are key to international and local case studies

Tips for Doing Fieldwork

• Proper preparation is just as important as the fieldwork itself, it maximizes site productivity while reducing your research time
• Before doing anything else, you must be clear on what you hope to achieve through undertaking the fieldwork. Ask yourself if the equipment will allow you to collect the data, and will the data answer your research question
• Create a schedule for research objectives on a Gantt chart/weekly planner, monitor progress, and make changes if needed
• Plan with ambitiousness, flexibility, and breathing room for last-minute adjustments
• Acceptance of inevitable delays, plan for a critical piece of equipment breaking or inclement weather, but setbacks will occur
• Build contingency programs, accept you won't control everything, identify setbacks, apply any measures to reduce likelihood of reoccurrence
• You must move on, your sanity depends on it
• Secure equipment ahead of time, like securing equipment well ahead of time if for Earth Science research students
• Borrow equipment, make sure no undergraduate fieldwork is occurring at same time, agree to what equipment they will take, and leave
• Hired equipment must be delivered one week early for good working condition and calibration date, otherwise replacements are possible
• Boots are recommended over old trainers, depending on site work and conditions
• Sturdy boots are worth the investment, with high group and ankle support
• Curate and check your data for insights and trends, also secure data
• Label and secure environmental samples correctly, in secured containers

Effective Wildlife Management Significance

• Effective wildlife management is crucial for ecological, economic, social, and ethical dimensions
• This includes planning, monitoring, and regulations of wildlife and the well-being of wildlife and humans
• Effective wildlife management leads to; Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem stabilities, Ecosystem Value, Cultural and Recreation Value, Disease Management, Ecosystem Services, Invasive Species Control, Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflicts, Education and Research, and Ethical Responsibility

Biodiversity Conservation

• Wildlife management maintains the balance of species and genetic diversity, preserving ecosystems

Economic Value

• Effective wildlife management has significantly contributes to both local and global economies

Cultural/Recreational Value

• Wildlife is important to culture and recreation, such as birdwatching, hiking, and wildlife viewing to connect people to nature

Disease Management

• Some wildlife carries disease that affects both humans and animals

Ecosystem Services

• Ecosystems offer services essential to well-being, like clean water, pollination, and carbon collection
• Wildlife contributes to these services, aiding in the healthy ecological process

Invasive Species Control

• Invasive species have large effects on native wildlife/ecosystems

Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflicts

• Wildlife habitat conflicts increase with human populations, needing management strategies like habitat restoration, relocation, or alternative foods

Education and Research

• Learning about wildlife behavior, and its dynamics, informs effective management

Ethical Responsibility

• Is the belief/ responsibility to protect and conserve, for future generations
• In conclusion, effective Wildlife Management is crucial for the health and sustainability ecosystems, with a combination of scientific research, community engagement, and policy to create balance for humans, and wildlife habitats

Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation

• Ethical disagreements/ dilemmas are created via management of animals, and must be addressed
• There is no single answer regarding dilemmas/disagreements

Developments in the Use & Management of Wild Animals

• Historical human views on nature and wildlife is ambivalent
• Prehistoric societies viewed it as the source of food, and other revered beings
• Judeo-Christian tradition is to view animals as resources, but they're celebrated as brethren by St Francis
• Perspectives on wilderness vary, from chaos to beauty
• Initiatives to protect nature is influenced via conflicting interest

Values at Stake in Wildlife Management

• Two management approaches including preservation and wise use
• Preservation seeks untouched nature, minimal intervention
• Wise use prioritizes human interests over time
• Modern Management includes considerations for the species, animal welfare and ecosystem dynamics

Dilemmas and conflicts

• The different values may cause conflict, like sustaining human livelihood's vs the protection of a species

Underlying Ethical Approaches to Wild Animals: Five Perspectives

• Contractarian emphasized agreements and benefits between groups, prioritizes human interest
• Utilitarian maximize and minimize suffering for the greater number
• Animal rights ensures individual animal rights, freedom to life and more
• Respect for nature emphasizes species benefits over singular benefits
• Considers the relationship between humans and animals

Law

• Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001 deals with conservation and habitat restoration/enhancement.
• Priority activities include the following:
  • Sustainable wildlife resource use
  • Management of invasive alien species
  • Enforcement of wildlife law/regulations
• Republic Act 9147, it's unlawful to undertake killing or destroying species, inflict injuries to reproductive systems, or enact dumping of waste
• Squatting or mineral extraction/logging are also unlawful. Introduction of wildlife, or trade, or gathering, host plants, wildlife, or maltreatment is prohibited

Penalties

• Critically endangered species crime sentences entail minimum six years of imprisonment
• Endangered crime sentences entail minimum four years of imprisonment
• Vulnerable Species crimes comes up with two years imprisonment
• Threatened Species carries one year imprisonment
• Other crimes against willdife can result in 6 months to one year of prison
• There are also fines between tens and hundreds of thousands of pesos for various infractions

Conclusion

• Management of animals generates ethical dilemmas, prioritize various things and determine policies. Explicit consideration of the values involved should back-up careful debate

Being social in research

• Research can be social, relevant to field biology and conservation
• Social research is about the human element in research
• Social research aims to get local perspectives for general topics
• Gather personal knowledge from observation, personal experience and prior ideas, personal knowledge through perception
• Ecological researches are confounded by different cultures
• Local people have relevant knowledge, policy development should consider them
• good ecology is Anthropocentric

Free and Prior Consent

• Honesty, presentation of the goal of your research, trustworthiness, and local government units that matter

Do's and Don'ts

• Know your target, questions should be simple and relevant, questions should be purpsosive with validated questions, and everything should be properly organized
• Ask once at a time, let the interviewee talk and be polite and respectful, and mention you're talking about the experience of others
• Record tape and data, memorize if necessary, avoid electronic devices, talk like a member of the community

Questions to Ask

• Observation from birds to tree phenology to culture, while avoiding personal question
• Ask about knowledge of plants to value of services to location of threats
• Valid questionnaire asks about: Sociodemographics, 'relevance', experience
• Data management includes confidentiality, transcribed notes, and organized data, use revalidation when necessary