Boracay Island is still a turtle haven as it keeps on sending sea turtle hatchlings into the sea. The beautiful marine creatures happily crawled their way back home to the vast ocean.

At the start of the year, some 196 sea turtle hatchlings were found and recorded in different parts of Boracay Island and were susbsequently released to the sea.

With the collaborative effort between the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Boracay and the private sector, sea turtles were conserved in the island.

In the early morning of January 4, 2021, sea turtle hatchlings were recorded and released in the shores of Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay, located at Punta Bunga Cove, Brgy. Yapak in Malay Aklan. They numbered 102 Olive ridley and two Hawksbill hatchlings.

The team of personnel from CENRO Boracay and Crimson Resort &Spa Boracay along with some tourists and nearby residents came to witness the beautiful sight of releasing the hatchlings as they use their seemingly fragile flippers to move towards the sea.

During a post-nest evaluation along the coastal area of Sitio Bolabog, Brgy. Balabag, Malay, Aklan, CENRO Boracay has recovered 61 critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings on January 8, 2021 at around 4:30 o’ clock in the afternoon.

Eagerly looking for more hatchlings in the coast of Bolabog, another six hatchlings were found the next day “live-in-nest” by the beach cleaners. Thus, a total of sixty seven (67) hatchlings were released by the team of CENRO Boracay in the shore of Bolabog in Brgy. Balabag on January 9, 2021.

In the serene beach of Tambisaan in Brgy. Manoc-manoc, a total of twenty five (25) Olive ridley hatchlings were found on its shore last January 10, 2021 and were immediately released the next day.

The Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is considered vulnerable (VU) species while Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is considred critically endangered (CR) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.

Boracay Island is not only the world’s best beach because of its white sandy beach and turquoise water, but is also the perfect nesting ground of sea turtles. This is where they found a haven for their existence.

“Boracay’s ongoing rehabilitation keeps the island clean and our team from CENRO Boracay and the Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group (BIARMG) goes an extra mile and continue with its effort to help conserve the wildlife in the island especially the sea turtles,” said Francisco E. Milla, Jr. DENR 6 regional executive director.

Enhancing biodiversity conservation is one of the ten prority programs of the Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu./DENR 6

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Published: 19 January 2021

An injured Olive ridleysea turtle was found by a fisherman in the waters of Brgy. Central Tabao, Valladolid, Negros Occidental, recently.

The wildlife was turned-over to the Community Environment and Natural Resources (CENRO) in Bago City for veterinary check-up and consultation. It’s feeding behavior and response was monitored as well as its woundstreated with antiseptic wound spray.

Although it was given medical attention, the sea turtle has slow response to its stimuli.It has sufferedfrom wound on its tail, has its right hind leg amputated, it has penile prolapse and has a broken carapace at hind part. Two daysafter the turn-over, it became totally unresponsive and loses its life. It was then buried within the office grounds of CENRO Bago City.

The sea turtle weighs approximately 20 kilograms, has a curved carapace length of 48 centimeters and curved carapace width of 56 centimeters.

Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelysolivacea) was considered Vulnerable (VU) by the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List also further protected under the Republic Act (RA) 9147 known as the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001.

“Sea turtles help maintain a healthy marine ecosystem. It is important to protect and conserve them. Although we had recorded another one loss, initiatives on its protection and conservation are evidently seen as more fishermen and concerned coastal residents turnovers of sea turtles are reported. Let’s continue to save these wildlife species,” said regional executive director Francisco E. Milla, Jr.

Enhanced Biodiversity Conservation is among the top ten priority programs and projects of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.

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Published: 24 August 2020

A group of tipsy drinkers in Brgy. Yapak, Boracay Island were surprised seeing turtle hatchlings crawl up their legs on the night of February 25, 2020, at around 11:00 o’clock in the evening.

Boracay Island once again saw the birth of 90 Hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings -considered critically endangered (CR) species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.

Due to the lights from surrounding houses however, the hatchlings must have been disoriented, followed the light and walked the path to Yapak’s main road instead of heading to the shores.  “Nagulat yung mga lasing na biglang may gumagapang na turtles sa legs nila,’’ disclosed Haron Deo Vargas of CENRO Boracay.

One concerned citizen that saw numerous hatchlings wandering away from their nesting grounds, the Puka Beach, informed the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Boracay which sent out its personnel to respond immediately on the evening prior to the release.

Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) species known for its narrow head and hawk-like beak is world widely distributed and also has Atlantic and Indo-Pacific subspecies.

Out of ninety (90) hatchlings, a total of eighty-seven (87) Hawksbill Sea turtle hatchling were released to the shores on early morning of February 26, 2020. Unfortunately, the three other hatchlings are found dead by CENRO personnel during the rescue.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources through its CENRO in Boracay continuously responds on public reports of such incidents to turn-over any wildlife for handling and release to its natural habitat.

“We are glad that we now have an active community on the island of Boracay, who readily responds to the need of wildlife protection, even during the wee hours of the night,’’ said DENR 6 Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr.

The continuous information, education, and communication (IEC) campaign help in informing the public immensely which causes an increase in the number of turn-overs and incident reports on the island.

Enhancing biodiversity conservation is one among the ten priority programs of the Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.#DENR6

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Published: 26 February 2020

It’s a grieving sight ever to see carcasses especially to those animal lovers and advocates who help protect and conserve species and boost its population.

It was unfortunate to start the year witnessing a female Green sea turtle found dead in the shores of a resort in Boracay Island and a week later, another one was found at Cauayan, Negros Occidental.

A carcass of a female Green sea turtle was found off shores of Fairways and Bluewater Boracay in Boracay Island at noontime last January 2, 2020. It was identified as fairly decomposed and has an unpleasant smell with its organs detached, coming out from the center of its carapace that had been sliced. Its death may have been possibly caused by the propellers of boats or ships which crashed on its back, splitting it in two. The carcass was buried after the investigation conducted by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Boracay Island.

Meanwhile, on the afternoon of January 13^th, an overpowering smell alarmed the residents of  Brgy. Tuyom, Cauayan, Negros Occidental as they saw a giant carcass of a female Green sea turtle on the shores of the barangay coastal area. It has a carapace length of 90 centimeters and width of 75 centimeters. CENRO Kabankalan personnel seen discoloration on its carapace and flippers, its organs were not intact and they identified it as severely decomposed. The carcass was buried one meter deep, after investigation was made.

Although deaths and grave threats of marine animals, especially turtles, may possibly be caused by boats and ships due to its propellers, other factors could include human intervention such as killing them to harvest their eggs for consumption and selling the carapace for souvenirs, getting tangled in fishing nets, and the presence of plastics swept by our turtles.

Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) are one of the world’s largest species of turtle that can live up to 80 years in the wild if not harmed. They feed on marine plants such as seaweeds and sea grass. It is considered endangered (E) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"Our Department always supports the protection and conservation of our marine animals. It is a grieving moment to know some of the marine animal species dies in a violent way. We however continue with our conservation efforts to boost the turtle population such as protecting their hatching areas. I therefore encourage all to stop throwing garbage into oceans that slowly but surely kill our marine animals especially turtles," said Department of Environment and Natural Resources 6 Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr.

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Published: 17 February 2020

             A six-feet long python weighing half a kilogram was caught recently by a citizen inside a poultry farm located at Brgy. Kirayan Tacas, Miagao, Iloilo.

             It was a Reticulated python and was surrendered to the DENR Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Guimbal through the help of police officers.

           CENR Officer Vicente Mellizas, Jr., with Melchor G. Gallego, Chief of the Monitoring and Enforcement Section of CENRO Guimbal received the surrendered python. The python was temporarily kept safe at CENRO Wildlife Rescue Center before its release to the wild.

            The Reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is a snake species native to the South and Southeast Asia. It is the longest snake in the world and usually hunted for its skin to use in traditional medicine and to sell as a pet. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List because it is widely distributed among other countries in South and Southeast Asia.

              It is important to conserve and protect these species as they play a key role in prey regulation amongst rodents in environments near farmlands and grasslands. “The natural world has its own check and balance. So it’s best not to harm them when people see them. We hope our communities keep turning them over for safe release and not kill them,” said Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr. of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

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Published: 14 February 2020