Taking on our stewardship

Young and passionate, 7-year old Gail Cabrera Lim has set her heart on saving the endangered Cebu Flowerpecker, whose population has reached a critical level of just 100 birds as indicated in an article of the Philippine Biodiversity and Conservation Foundation Inc. (PBCFI).  Like the Siloy, or what we know as the Black Shama, the Cebu Flowerpecker is badly in need of protection to survive.

I met Gail first in one of our corporate events. She was tagging along with her Dad, as he was trying to squeeze in quality time while indulging me with my request for him to emcee.  In that short encounter, I knew this kid was deep.

Recently, her attention has been focused on birds. In particular, the Cebu Flowerpecker.  It is inspiring to see this bundle of strength and determination in this frail-framed little girl.  She has been sharing her advocacy with her classmates in school, and even some of the young kids in the church she attends with her family, hoping to contaminate them with her enthusiasm for the flowerpecker.

I find this child’s interest in the endangered birds a hopeful indicator of sustainability.

Gail’s curiosity about the Cebu Flowerpecker was fanned by her search for critically endangered birds from her book readings. She then stumbled upon the Cebu Flowerpecker, noting that its number is far less than that of the Philippine Eagle. Although I have personally heard of the Cebu Flowerpecker years back in the time of “bird woman” Perla Magsalay, not much attention has been given to it these days, unlike the eagle. Gail’s concern of the bird brought back those memories.

Worried about doing nothing, when the Cebu Flowerpecker was right in the island where she lived, Gail asked her father, Sheldon, to help her find a way to help this endemic species thrive.

This led Gail and her family to visit the Nug-as Forest in Alcoy to see the habitat of the Flowerpecker. Here they learned that aside from the bird itself, its feeding ground, particularly its food source has also reduced.

The Cebu Flowerpecker eats berry-like parts of the Cebu Mistletoe as it aptly fits its beak – I actually never knew we had our own mistletoe – that grows on Cinnamon trees and in fact I never even thought Cinamon trees were grown in the area.

Since Cinnamon trees have decreased in number, the mistletoe has also diminished. There are 16-18 species of the Cinnamon in the country, which is very encouraging information. We can definitely grow this in corporate tree planting activities. Mulberries are also a good source of the food of the flowerpecker but these are not native to the Philippines.

Discussions on the bird with nature enthusiasts revealed that Flowerpeckers are also be sited in Cantimpla area where the Nomad’s Refuge is located.

Gail has made it her crusade to share her new found love fore the flowerpecker’s survival and all it entails. Providing the right environment for the bird brings to fore the need for us to find how to make it flourish, and in return for us to have that stable environment that we ourselves need in order to survive. Taking care of the flowerpecker and our other endemic birds remind us of that stewardship that God has tasked us to do.  Let us then exercise our responsible dominion as commanded.