Being one of the people who strive to protect the planet and make a difference even in small things compels me to do something even more than the usual routine that I have. Yes, I do teach my kids, family and friends to do something for mother earth even in simplest things that they can do like throwing small plastic wrappers on its rightful place, saving water, conserving electricity and even recycling some materials that are still useful to us. By these, at least we have made a small difference.
But this is not enough to make a bigger impact in helping save the environment. I have been out of the environmental organization for more than a decade already so my activities isn’t as much as it is, not as active as I was before.
I thought it was enough for the active movers to do hard core saving but it was clear that it is not enough because each day more and more part of the ecosystem are being devastated. More species are being delisted from the names of the ecological society. There are still people getting greedy and forgets the importance of animals and living things in this world. The need is there.
Just recently, Philippines’ Tubataha Reef has been hailed and voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Wonders that brings a clear and vast biodiversity of living things. It only proves that Philippines is reach in its natural resources. And speaking of diversity, Philippines is among the Top 5 countries in the world with high shark diversity. So it means we got plenty of shark species lurking in Philippine waters.
So, in order to give more help in saving the environment I’m sharing one of the recent campaigns of an organization that aims to save in particular some of the shark species in the Philippines, the thresher sharks. It is said that the Philippines is the only country that have an established pelagic thresher shark dive industry and it is found in Monad Shoal near Malapascua Island, Daanbantayan. This place remains to be the only place in world where scuba divers can see pelagic thresher sharks almost every day. Because of this the Malapascua Island has been turned into a major diving tourist attraction.
Aside from Cebu thresher sharks can also be found in different parts of the country and protecting them is today’s major problem of the government. Though locals like Batangas City, Panglao Island and Palawan has made orders in protecting the shark species.
If you’re a fan of eating Shark’s Fins and Fish Balls better hold that cravings and instead help in the campaign of saving this particular species of sharks. There is an upcoming Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) this coming September 24 to October 5, 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. All that we wanted is for the three species of thresher sharks to be listed on Appendix II of the CITES at their Conference of Parties (CoP) 17.
The Philippine delegation to the 17th CoP of CITES has the option to vote YES or NO to the listing of thresher sharks. We need to let them know that, as a country, we want our thresher sharks to be protected under CITES which will inevitably protect them in Philippine waters.
If this proposal passes, all trade in thresher sharks would be required to be sustainable – a policy that would go a long way in ensuring their survival for generations to come.
You can help by doing the following things:
- Sign the petition by visiting this link and filling up the form https://www.change.org/p/philippines-vote-yes-for-threshers
- Intensify your help by pledging your support to the campaign at Thunderclap. https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/46510-filipinos-treasured-threshers?locale=en
- Visit Malapascua Island to see the thresher shark and support the community.
- Share your thresher shark posts on social media while using #SaveThresherTala #StoptheThresherHunt #PHsayYes and #WORLDsayYES
Now it’s time to do your part! It’s much more easier now to share something like this. Help online and offline.
.JPG)
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