Butterfly conservation in Mt. Isarog Natural Park

There are more to butterflies than color and beauty. Butterflies are natural pollinators of agricultural crops. They are also in demand nowadays for commercial purposes.

In the Philippines, butterfly rearing has become an alternative livelihood for the local people near Mt. Isarog, a rich source of butterflies in the Bicol region.

However, this has exposed the rich fauna of Mt. Isarog to exploitation, which threatens the butterfly population to extinction.

Butterfly species in Mt. Isarog have not yet been systematically inventoried to date. This led Maria Dulce Jovillano-Mostoles of the Camarines Sur State Agricultural College (CSSAC) to record the existing butterfly species and assess the conservation status of butterflies in the Mt. Isarog Natural Park.

Based on the inventory, there are 42 species under 29 genera and seven families of butterflies in Mt. Isarog.

The Pieridae family was found significantly different in terms of abundance (28.67 ± 26.8) and diversity (.678), while the Hesperiids were the least abundant at 3.0 and diversity (H=0, using Shannon index).

The study also found that butterfly population is significantly higher in cultivated areas than in forest areas. Coloration of butterflies in cooler, forested areas was of striking shades and hues compared with those in the cultivated and grassland areas. Host plants for common butterflies are found abundant but for rare butterflies, host plants are limited. However, more species for both common and rare butterflies and their food plants are believed to be existing at Mt. Isarog except that sampling period and sites were limited.

Jovillano-Mostoles noted that the reduction of trees and unregulated collection of adult fliers have influenced the population of butterflies in the Mt. Isarog Natural Park. She recommends that such concern be duly addressed. She also strongly recommends conservation measures for the butterfly species and their host plants since none is being done at present.

PCARRD was part of the monitoring and evaluation team of the inventory project. (Ma. Rowena M. Baltazar, S&T Media Services)