THE annual celebration for the endangered Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) begins this weekend and is celebrated every June 4-10 as mandated by Presidential Proclamation No. 79 (February 24, 1999),with various festivities in Davao City.
The Philippine Eagle Week, is on its 13th year in celebrating the beauty and symbolism of the Philippine Eagle and the richness of the Philippine environment, encourage responsible enjoyment of wildlife, and bring attention to what can be done to ensure that natural resources continue to benefit future generations.
The the Philippine Eagle Foundation spokes person Tatit Quiblat said:
"A pair of Philippine Eagles needs at least 7,000 to 13,000 hectares of forest as a nesting territory; the Philippines lost about 270,000 hectares of forest a year between 2000-2005, according to a UN Food and Agriculture Office study in 2005."
"If we are losing that much forest, it's not only the Philippine Eagle population that suffers; the flooding, landslides, problematic water supply, and other effects of deforestation have been affecting and will continue to affect the Filipino people too."
"We need to seriously look at investing in enforcing laws to keep existing forests intact and rehabilitating damaged environments, rather than incurring losses to business and agriculture and spending millions in relief efforts whenever disaster strikes."
The 13th edition of the Eagle Week is extended to June 12, to create a twin celebration of the national bird and Philippine Independence Day.
Activities include the GreenMob Opening Parade on June 4, and the SAYAgila Interbarangay Dance Contest which concludes on June 11.
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