Philippine Department of Tourism promotes Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary in London!

Nov. 11, 2008 - PRLog -- Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary (RIWS), among other top birdwatching sites in the Philippines conquers London, UK. The Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) launches the guidebook “Birdwatching in the Philippines Volume 1” on November 11 at the Marriot, Grosvenor Square during this year’s World Travel Market which takes place from November 10 to 13 in London.

Prior to this official launch, “Birdwatching in the Philippines” is prominently advertised in both the Sunday and Daily Telegraph, two of the British popular broadsheet newspapers. Some selected sites are also featured on 25 London double-decker buses driving daily along the lively streets of the city. This campaign is part of the DOT’s latest promotion of attracting the growing numbers of eco-tourists in the Philippines.

Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary holds probably the densest population of the critically endangered Philippine cockatoo Cacatua haematuropygia in the wild! It was declared Wildlife Sanctuary through Presidential Proclamation 1000 in 2006. The small coral island is not only the core habitat of the Philippine cockatoo, but also of other globally threatened or near-threatened bird species. Rasa is located in Narra, Palawan. The municipality is now called the “World Capital of the Philippine Cockatoo”. Rasa Island is the pilot site of the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Programme (PCCP) under the Katala Foundation.

Narra’s former Municipal Mayor and currently Municipal Administrator Lucena D. Demaala represents Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary at the World Travel Market. During her administration, Lucena Demaala provided full support on the conservation of the Philippine cockatoo on Rasa Island as Chairman of the RIWS Protected Area Management Board (PAMB).

***

For more information, please contact Indira Widmann, Katala Foundation, P.O. Box 390, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan or at idlacerna@yahoo.com or www.philippinecockatoo.org

# # #

The Katala Foundation (KF) implements the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Program in the Philippines and uses the Philippine cockatoo as its flagship species but employs an ecosystemic and participatory approach for conservation.