TIM eMagazine Vol.3 Issue 8
Taw’buid tribeswoman
smokes a bak’to or tobacco
pipe and carries a buyug
– a woven basket stuffed
with gathered tubers. The
Iglit-Baco Park is home to
a large number of Taw’buid
and Buhid tribesfolk.
(Gregg Yan)
Bridge repair complete. The
rain eventually stopped,
easing the flow of the river.
(Gregg Yan)
Boot’s eye view of the
freshly-completed
bridge – now ready for
passage. (Gregg Yan)
bridge takes form.
BIOFIN’s Kamille Rosales hands the Taw’buid woman a dry shirt,
warming her. After a half-hour, the bridge is up and the column
trudges once more for civilization.
As we crossed that rickety bridge, I realized how the brave,
resourceful rangers of TCP and the Iglit-Baco Natural Park
surmounted these obstacles all the time – fording swollen rivers,
patrolling against heavily-armed poachers, dismantling dangerous
spring-loaded spike traps set illegally within the park’s core zone.
Building bridges and keeping a lifeline to the lowlands open has
kept the park and its endangered animals alive and thriving. This
Mindoro’s rugged central
highlands are painted
vermillion by the first rays
of dawn. (Gregg Yan)
year, the park’s Tamaraw numbers swelled to 523, the highest
recorded since conservation efforts began.
“We rangers have dodged bullets and charging Tamaraw. Once
I slid down a mountain for we were patrolling without lights,”
remembers Ranger Team Leader Ronnie Estrella. “We even chased
off a dozen poachers with kwitis or fireworks because we had no
guns! This has become much more than a job for us. This is where
many of us have devoted our lives.”
Making do with equipment which have seen better days, the
plucky rangers are every bit as tough as the Tamaraw they protect.
I urge you to help re-equip Mindoro’s Tamaraw rangers with GPS
units, spotting scopes, binoculars, laptops and field uniforms by
contacting the Tamaraw Conservation Programme at +63977 809
1498. As I found while repairing that rickety bridge, help goes a
long way.
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