Palawan environmentalists are seeking the help of plant enthusiasts across the country to stop plant poaching on the island province, which has been driven by a growing demand for rare plants during the pandemic.
They should make sure they are not buying illegally captured wildlife, Emerson Sy, a wildlife researcher at the non-government organization TRAFFIC, told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).
“We really have to be conscientious of what we consume…. We have to stop supporting these activities if we still want them to prosper in the coming years,” Sy said.
Palawan, a biodiversity corridor which has about 700,000 hectares of forest cover, reported increased incidents of poaching during the pandemic.
“Dati ang makikita mo sa black market ay 'yung mga orchids lang from Palawan. Ngayon, pati begonias, and hoyas are being poached and sold online (We used to only see Palawan’s orchids in the black market. Now we also see begonias and hoyas being poached and sold online),” said Jovic Fabello, spokesperson of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
At least 259 species of flora found in the province are threatened, based on PCSD Resolution No. 15-521. They include the favorites of many collectors — begonias, hoyas, orchids, and caladiums.
They were a hit in black markets online during the pandemic, said Fabello. The council’s Facebook page had been bombarded with reports from concerned residents, he said.
Poachers posted photos of the plants on Facebook groups popular to plant enthusiasts, who may be unaware that they bought endangered species.
Other customers deliberately sought out rare plants. Sy reminded collectors that endangered plants are not being conserved if they are inside homes.
“They have to be in their natural habitat, doing their own functions. You basically kill them if you keep them at home,” Sy said.
The Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) in Manila reported the same trend. BMB Resources Division chief Theresa Tenazas said residents reported increased sightings of plant poaching in Palawan.
Fabello is concerned that these illegal activities would threaten the survival of yet to be discovered plant species. A new begonia species was discovered on the island in 2020, for example. There were reportedly fewer than 50 mature plants found, and most of them were near tourist spots.
“Plant poaching itself may not be a sole cause for the extinction of plants, but couple that with global warming, conversion of lands for other purposes, it can definitely contribute to it and may affect the viability of some plant species,” said Rene Alfred Anton Bustamante, executive director of the Philippine Taxonomic Initiative. He was one of the researchers who discovered the new begonia species.
PCIJ Special
No arrests during the pandemic
Trading, collecting, hunting or possessing threatened wildlife, including its by-products and derivatives, whether plants or animals, are illegal under Republic Act (RA) 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. Violators face imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to P300,000.
The PCSD had not apprehended a single plant poacher or illegal seller during the pandemic, however.
“Most transactions happen online… and we are still learning how to apprehend using digital platforms,” Fabello said.
The poachers are believed to be mostly indigenous peoples who have contacts in plant shops across the country. “How can you apprehend such persons when they say this is their only source of livelihood during the pandemic? It’s tricky, and difficult,” Fabello said.
Fabello said there was only one holder of Wildlife Farm Permit, which was allowed to sell non-threatened species of flora in Palawan commercially. A collector told the PCIJ that many caladiums from the province are sold daily in at least one popular Facebook group, however.
The collector said the customers came from all over the country, but mostly from the country capital, and many were from Mindanao.
Despite lockdowns, the pandemic saw the Plant Quarantine Office (PQO) in Palawan processing more clearances for plants shipped out of the province. PQO’s Rogelio Dumaran said they had released 4,827 permits from January to May 2021, compared to only 3,640 permits in 2019.
“Most of those who applied were shipping plants bound for Manila… Usually, these were people who grew plants in their backyards and sold them online,” said Dumaran.
Sy said some plant shops were able to circumvent laws to acquire clearances for rare plants. He said he encountered plant shops declaring illegally poached plants to be locally grown from gardens.
The plants are brought to the PQO for assessment before they are transported out of the source provinces, but there are concerns that not all plant quarantine officials are familiar with endangered plants.
“Those who ship these plants can easily declare they are shipping this legal plant when, really, they are sending out an endangered plant. There are some officials who aren’t knowledgeable of the plants that are endemic to Palawan,” one local, who had been sending plants to friends in Metro Manila as gifts, told the PCIJ.
It can be tricky when they encounter uncommon plants, said Dumaran. He said they consult the PCSD, which has a list of the names of endangered plants, but the they may be difficult to identify in person.
The numbers may not reflect the real extent of the challenge, too. In March 2021, the Bureau of Plant Industry reminded shipping companies to comply with the Plant Quarantine Law, which requires domestic shipments of plants to have permits.
“Even if we also have PCSD officers in all ports, Palawan is very porous. They can just hire a boat and have these items shipped, unregistered,” Fabello said.
Amend the Wildlife Act
The pandemic had been a wake up call to address plant poaching, the environmentalists said.
Sy said the regulation of illegal trade of wild plants had taken a backseat to exotic animals due to weak enforcement of environmental laws and lack of appreciation by Filipinos of the country’s diverse flora.
BMB’s Wildlife Resources Division recorded only 14 confiscations of poached plants nationwide since 2015.
“I think that’s what the pandemic gave us — the opportunity to look at the trading of the wild flora which has not drawn the attention of the government for a long time,” said Grizelda Mayo-Anda, executive director of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center Inc. (ELAC).
Anda said authorities could learn from the successful efforts of the pangolin conservation movement in the province. Interceptions of pangolin trade doubled in recent years as authorities conducted buy-bust operations against traders.
Fabello welcomed the suggestion. “It looks like we have to agree to purchase items from them, then apprehend them once we meet-up to pay,” he said.
Anda also welcomed a move to amend the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. Proponents of Senate Bill 2079 seek to increase the penalties from P200 to P5,000, depending on the risk of the said wildlife’s extinction, to P30,000 to P200,000.
The current penalties have been too measly to deter poaching, said Anda. “The tendency is they just pay and pay the fines and continue to do the practice,” she said.
Sy also underscored the need to provide livelihood to indigenous peoples, and encouraged consumers to buy handicrafts from them instead. “It’s better to purchase these products. It's a more sustainable practice.” END