Mount Busa News Today

Mongabay seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics,and finance on conservation and development.

The recent title match and the throwing of the hat of Manny Pacquiao into the presidential derby have once again shoved the eight-division champ into the spotlight, as well as his home province of Sarangani. Much like its most famous son, this underrated province has virtually gone up several weight…

Officials of Sarangani province have joined hands with conservation advocates to protect and conserve Mount Busa—the vast mountain range and watershed area straddling several towns in Sarangani and South Cotabato in Mindanao. Home to the region’s verdant primary forests, Mount Busa may soon be declared a protected area under the Expanded…

Two wildlife biologists found a Pahiopedilum haynaldianum, also known as lady’s slipper orchid, in a “local garden in the village adjacent to the forest somewhere in the Mount Busa Key Biodiversity Area.” Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo, resident wildlife biologist of the Protected Area Management Office

Newsletter 2021-04-29 Carolyn Cowan [04/29/2021] – Fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos are believed to remain on Earth, and the species faces dire threats due to a low birth rate, habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching. – A new study finds that, despite its small size, the population retains significant genetic diversity, and likely has the genomic “toolkit” necessary to survive threats like climate change or disease. – The findings are good news for conservationists, but also come ...

Mining and logging threaten a wildlife wonderland on a Philippine mountain Mount Busa on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao is among the most biodiverse and most threatened ecological areas in the country. It’s a key biodiversity area and a known bird conservation area, considered one of the last remaining strongholds of the critically endangered and nationally important Philippine eagle (Phitecophaga jefferyi). Despite its ecological importance, the mountain has enjoyed little protec...

It’s well known that the Philippines is a biodiversity hotspot, its 7641 islands holding a vast array of flora and fauna, many yet unrecorded, all of them rapidly disappearing. But despite this being common knowledge, the importance of this doesn’t usually hit home until a new species is discovered.

Yvette Natalie Tan The Busa Mountain Range (BMR) straddles the provinces of Sarangani and South Cotabato in southern Mindanao. According to Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo, resident wildlife biologist and project development officer of the PASu AVPL, “it is one of the last remaining primary forests in the region.” A primary forest is a forest whose ecology hasn’t been disturbed by human activity and thus, contains flora and fauna native to the region. Pitologo recently assisted Aljohn Jay Saavedra...

(Photo from USAID Philippines) The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines has commended biologists Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra for rediscovering a rare frog that was last seen almost three decades ago. The brightly colored Guttman’s stream frogs were believed to be extinct until they were rediscovered living in the forest of Mount Busa. They were first seen in the wild in 1993. “USAID supports Filipino scientists who are making discoveries in ...

Rare frog thought to be extinct rediscovered in Mindanao Published March 12, 2021 11:18am A pair of Filipino biologists has rediscovered in Mindanao a rare frog species that was thought to be extinct decades ago. Guttmans stream frog ( Pulchrana guttmani), first seen in  1993, was rediscovered by Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra in the forests of Mount Busa, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Guttmans stream frog is "an amphibian ...