Pria Ghosh introduces one of our Amphibian Programme partners: Project Palaka, the first amphibian conservation programme using captive breeding in the Philippines.
On a group of remote islands of the Philippines, amid growing tourism, white-sand beaches, and dramatic limestone caves, a small brown frog has been quietly slipping away. The Gigantes forest frog, once thought to live on four of the ten Islas de Gigantes, is now only found on the two largest, and what little research there is suggests populations are declining rapidly there as well.
The Gigantes forest frog has barely been studied: its reproductive behaviour, population dynamics, even its original range and the full extent to which the species has declined, is unknown. What is known is that the species is Critically Endangered, and that it seems to have unique habitat requirements. The frogs spend most of their lives sheltering in the islands’ karst limestone cave system, venturing into the forests nearby to feed, and hiding in tiny cracks and crevices in the rock for protection.
Islas de Gigantes is an island chain within the larger Western Visayas archipelago in the Visayan Sea. Image © Patrick Poculan
The case of the Gigantes forest frog exemplifies many of the complex, synergistic challenges faced by our partners. The Islas de Gigantes has a high poverty rate and limited infrastructure – the second largest island Gigantes Sur, for example, does not have a regular electricity supply, and the islands have no waste collection facilities. Tourism has grown rapidly in recent years, which has helped in reducing the poverty rate but has also placed increasing pressure on the natural environment, including causing higher rates of erosion in the Gigantes forest frogs’ limestone caves.
Local communities have seen many researchers and international NGOs come and go, and renege on promises, which has led to ongoing mistrust. In addition to this, one of the key threats facing the Gigantes’s unique wildlife is an invasive tree harvested widely for charcoal – environmentally damaging but essential for many people’s livelihoods.
The Gigantes forest frogs spend most of their lives sheltering in the islands’ karst limestone cave system. Image © Jero Manulat
Meet Project Palaka
Amid all these huge challenges, who would notice a little, unobtrusive frog silently slipping towards extinction? Project Palaka, a Synchronicity Earth partner, has noticed and is changing the course of the species’ trajectory. Around the world, amphibians are the ‘canary in the coalmine’ for environmental degradation. Their existence on both land and water, and their environmental sensitivity, means that if habitats can be maintained in a state suitable for amphibians, the same habitat will be able to provide resources and homes to all other species too, including humans and the tourists that the Gigantes Islands increasingly rely on.
To save the frog and its habitat for everyone, Project Palaka has launched the first-ever conservation initiative for this species. It has started a captive breeding programme, the frogs’ reproductive requirements are being studied, and at last a dedicated organisation with a long-term vision is committed to building trust and partnership with local communities. Thanks to Project Palaka, the community are starting to feel proud of this frog, found only on their islands.
