Sablayan kicks off Tamaraw Month celebration

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Tamaraw Conservation Program ( TCP), the local government of Sablayan, along with the Haribon Foundation and World Wide Fund ( WWF) joined together for the Hataw Tamaraw motorcade to begin the celebration of the Tamaraw Month this October in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.

With theme “Hataw sa SamaSamang Paghakbang para sa Tamaraw,” the yearly observance aims to raise awareness on the importance of the conservation and protection of the critically endangered tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) that can only be found nowhere else in the world but in the forests and grasslands of Mounts IglitBaco National Park in Mindoro Oriental, and Mounts Aruyan and Calavite in Mindoro Occidental.

Conservation projects by various local government agencies, environmental organizations and civil society groups are ongoing in the province of Mindoro, including forest restoration and governance programs to restore the forest habitat of the tamaraw.

Early this month, a report by ThePhilippineDailyInquirer from conservationists of the Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foun-

sighting of 30 tamaraws on Mount Gimparay in Naujan town. The tamaraw was last spotted in the province more than a century ago.

The Special Month for the Tamaraw is observed nationwide in October of every year by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 273 “Declaring the Month of October of Every Year as a ‘Special Month’ for the Conservation and Protection of the Tamaraw in Mindoro.”

Other activities lined up for the month-long celebration include a ride-for-a cause biking event, overnight camps, fora series and opening of the Tams’ World Exhibit in Far Eastern University-Tagaytay. On October 30, Tamaraw Month culminates in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, with a quiz bee, poster-making and poetry contest to be joined by seven schools with indigenous peoples groups Tribu Alangan and Tau Buid.