DENR cautions ‘plantitas, plantitos’ from collecting endangered plants

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has cautioned “plantitas” and “plantitos” from collecting threatened or critically endangered plants as doing so would result in penalties.

“With the advent po ng COVID-19, marami nga ho ang (there are many) plantitos and plantitas…Dapat aware din po tayo na mayroon tayong (We should be aware of the) Wildlife Act,” DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau director Ricardo Calderon said during Friday’s Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the agency.

“Yun pong Wildlife Act, covered po noon ang flora and fauna kaya po ine-emphasize po natin sa publiko na hindi ho basta nagga-gather ng halaman sa mga kagubatan kasi po meron po silang mga permiso bago makapag-gather nito at baka po ang naga-gather nila ay mga threatened at critically endangered plants natin,” he added.

(The Wildlife Act also covers flora and fauna; that’s why we are emphasizing to the public that they can’t just go ahead and gather plants from the forest without the permits because there could be instances that they are not aware that what they are gathering could be endangered plants.)

Under the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, “no person or entity shall be allowed possession of wildlife unless such person or entity can prove financial and technical capability and facility to maintain said wildlife.”

Senator Nancy Binay then asked the DENR if it has sufficient budget to fund a campaign informing the public on which species are allowed or are prohibited from being collected.

According to Calderon, the DENR’s wildlife conservation program, which has an allocation of P78 million, includes funding for an information education campaign conducted by the agency’s regional offices.

“Although iyun po ay maliit, kulang,” the DENR official said.

(Although that’s too small, it won’t be enough.)

“Siguro magandang tignan if there’s enough information campaign dahil ang dami ngang bagong plantita and plantito e baka hindi nila alam na yung binibili pala nila e kasama na do’n sa listahan ng endangered species,” Binay said.

(I think we should determine if there’s enough information campaign because many have become plantitas and plantitos, they may not be aware that what they’re buying could be included under the endangered species list.)

JE