Buguey Wetlands

Understanding the Buguey Wetlands

What is the physical description of the Buguey wetlands?

-    -    The Buguey Wetlands can be located in Cagayan Province. Its coordinates are 18^o17’N, 120^o50’E on the North Coast of Luzon. The approximate area of the Buguey Wetland is 14,400 hectares and approximately 80% of the Buguey municipality consists of wetlands. It also has an altitude of sea level. The climatic condition of this wetland is that it has a humid tropical climate with an average yearly rainfall of about 2,200mm more or less evenly distributed throughout the year. Buguey wetlands has a complex of coastal lagoons which means it is a shallow body of water separated from larger bodies of water because of barriers or reefs. It is also a freshwater marsh, brackish and saline marshes meaning that the water content is salty. This wetland has mangrove swamps and intertidal mud fiats, with some fish ponds and shrimp ponds and it has a very large area of rice paddies. It is considered to be a mangrove swamp because it is a coastal marine swamp of tropical region which is dominated by the presence of the mangrove trees. Aside from that, the Buguey wetland is also a fauna which is an important area for migratory waterfowl, especially ducks and shore birds.

What can we find in Buguey Wetlands?

-       We can find different population of animals in the Buguey wetlands. Some of them are the following:

aa)  Duck Anas Luzonica – They are dabbling ducks with blackish crown, nape, and eye stripe. They have rusty cinnamon rest of head and neck. They are now considered as vulnerable because they are undergoing a rapid decline owing to extreme over hunting.

bb)  Schrenck’s Bittern Ixobrychus eurhythmus – They have a large range but their population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

cc)   Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx Intermedia – They have an unknown trend because their population has stable fluctuation.

dd)  Philippine Hawk Eagle Nisaetus philippensis – It is considered to be a raptor but vulnerable because of its small population. Its rapid decline is due to the lowland forest loss, exacerbated by hunting and trade.

ee)  Great Egret Casmerodius albus

f.f)    Little Tern Sterna albifrons

How do we conserve the Buguey wetland?

-       We can find out that the Buguey wetland inhabitants’ population are rapidly decreasing because of many disturbances and threats. There is the destruction of mangroves especially the trees. Waterfowl hunting is widespread even though it is illegal and there is an extensive use of pesticides by the rice farmers. Ducks and egrets frequently feed in the rice paddies and there have been incidents of birds dying fro poisoning. As a student, the only ways that we can help in conserving the wetland is through restoring the grasslands. This is helpful for the inhabitants because the grasslands help the ducks in concealing their nests and increases their chances of successfully hatching a clutch. Another way is through replanting forests especially the mangrove trees to prevent flooding due to overflowing riverbanks and that the habitat may not be destroyed. We can also restore the water sheds because when water sheds are disturbed, contaminants may be washed down into mainstream wetlands, impacting the fauna of the wetland. Finally, we can just talk to the landowners that they must not use pesticides on their rice paddies so that the ducks and egrets will not get poisoned thus maintaining their population.

Why do we need to conserve our wetlands?

-       There is a need for us to conserve our wetlands because if we fail to do so, all biotic creatures living on a particular wetland like the Buguey will decrease on its population and the plants and trees would soon wither. They contribute so much for the environment so there is no point in hunting down and destroying the habitat of the living creatures. We need to conserve the Buguey wetlands because it is also a part of God’s creation. Everything that Our Father has created shall be taken care of. God created us humans so that there would be someone who will preserve and conserve the wetland so it is a big mistake if we turn down the task that God appointed to those concerned. Anything which can be an integral part in the beautification of our environment shall not be wasted and should be considered as a blessing.