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Danjugan Island Field Research and Educational Center
(DIFREC)
| With its ecosystems and wildlife, the island is an excellent field research and education center. In 1990, before PRRCFI was established and the island purchased, a small group of scuba divers (some are its present trustees) leased a small portion of Danjugan Island that is now Typhoon Beach Camp. A year later, the Youth Marine Camp was created to educate 13-16 year olds on marine conservation. The youth camp was further developed to what is now the Youth Marine and Wildlife Camp—a hands-on learning for rural and urban school children. Adaptations of the camp’s concept allowed adults to be educated on nature and wildlife conservation—both for coastal communities and LGUs. |
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In 1994, the island was purchased under the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Project and PRRCFI was established. With the involvement of Coral Cay Conservation, Ltd., marine research with foreign volunteers was conducted to gather data to qualify the island’s surrounding reefs as a candidate Marine Protected Area. Many of the CCC volunteers were students of marine biology, environmental science, geography, etc. and some of CCC’s science advisers are members of the academe involved with prestigious universities in the United Kingdom such as the Universities of Newcastle, Edinburgh, Bangor (Wales), etc. Some of the students produced their Ms or Ph.D dissertations from research of Danjugan Island and the adjacent coastal zones in the mainland.
As a result of the high level of science that was contributed by CCC, its scientific advisers, and its volunteers, the surrounding fringing reefs of the island became the Danjugan Island Marine Reserve and Sanctuaries (DIMRS) on the 9th of February 2000. DIMRS is the first provincial MPA in Negros Occidental.
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Presently, PRRCFI maintains a staff of marine biologists and community workers. These scientists are tasked to monitor the effectivity of DIMRS through fish census and catch monitoring. With UP-MSI, fish tagging are conducted each quarter that monitors fish travel outside of the MPA. These scientists are further tasked in underwater survey to gather data for more MPAs in southern Negros Occidental as one of the goals of PRRCFI is to assist in the establishment of an array of MPAs in the area—very much like the corridoring of forest wildlife habitats. |
When presented with an opportunity, there are important terrestrial projects that are in the PRRCFI wish list. Foremost is the need for a terrestrial ecologist whose job, among many others, will be to conduct radio tracking studies on selected wildife species, i.e, frugivores (bats and birds), white breast sea eagle fledglings to determine out-migration patterns so that conservation projects are implemented/recommended in key areas of the mainland.
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