NEWSFLASH

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RARE BIRDS BRING ECOTOURISTS TO CEBU NATIONAL PARK

Cebu City, Nov. 7, 1997 - Mount Tabunan forest, nestled within the Central Cebu National Park, is the new destination for ecotourists and bird watchers excited over the rediscovery of rare birds, one of which was thought to be extinct.

Dr. Isabelo Montejo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources explains that the Central Cebu National Park, only 25 kilometers from Cebu City, is the only area on the island with 180 hectares dominated by tropical rainforest trees like lawaan and other species of dipterocarp.

The National Park is also the habitat of some of the most endangered bird species in the world, like the small Cebu Flowerpecker (Dicaeum Quadricolor) and Black Shama (Copsychus Cebuensis). The flowerpecker was believed to be extinct since 1906, but was sighed again in 1942.

"People want to go to the National Park just for a chance to see these species'" says Montejo.

The Central Cebu National Park is important because of its rich flora and endangered fauna. Within its tropical rainforest setting are found rare orchids and the endemic Cebu Cinnamon tree.

The Park also has a place in national history because within it is Mt. Manunggal, where President Ramon Magsaysay died in a plane crash on March 17, 1957.

Environmentalists are concerned, however, by the encroachment of close to 16,000 residents which has adversely affected the development of the park.