DENR says no to butterfly collectors on Banahaw

BUTTERFLIES like these have attracted the interest of butterfly collectors in Mount Banahaw. EMER COSTUMBRADO-GESTIADA/CONTRIBUTOR

LUCENA CITY—The reported return of different varieties of butterflies in Mount Banahaw has started to attract butterfly collectors.

“My phone was flooded with calls and text messages, all asking if they could watch the butterflies. Some of them even asked if they could bring their nets to catch the insects,” said Salud Pangan, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-park area superintendent for Banahaw and neighboring Mount San Cristobal.

Pangan said over phone on Sunday that after the Inquirer reported on May 30 the return of the butterflies in the mystic mountain, she has been receiving a lot of queries not only from professional butterfly collectors and hobbyists but from professional butterfly catchers who sell them to interested buyers.

Last week, Pangan disclosed that since Banahaw was declared off limits to the public nine years ago, the mystic mountain has again become a sanctuary of different varieties of butterflies. Citing findings of a college student researcher, she said at least 1,796 butterflies belonging to 81 species and subspecies have been recorded in different areas of the mountain.

Pangan said she has turned down all the requests and told interested parties that the swarm of butterflies were often spotted inside the closed areas of Banahaw.

“I politely reminded them that Mount Banahaw is closed to the public until 2015. We need more time for its protection and complete rehabilitation,” she said.

Pangan said she knew most queries came from professional butterfly catchers who prey on the insects and sell them to interested buyers.

Residents living in communities around Banahaw have been warned against catching the colorful insects to sell to collectors, including foreigners, Pangan said.

In the past, she said, Japanese butterfly collectors used to frequent the villages surrounding Banahaw and hire residents as guides to the butterfly habitats.

Pangan warned butterfly lovers and hobbyists/collectors to be wary of pseudomountaineers who might lure them to a “climb-Banahaw-watch-butterfly” tour for a fee.

“The DENR has long exposed the illegal operations of the Internet-based racketeers. We’re not giving free access passes to any group. Climbing Banahaw is illegal,” she stressed.

Last year, the DENR warned the public about the operation of an Internet-based syndicate that charges P1,500 per person in exchange for unhampered access and camping inside the prohibited area of Banahaw.

Using several Facebook accounts, the syndicate has victimized overeager mountaineers and nature-trippers from Manila who were curious to rediscover Banahaw after its long closure. The fake mountaineer groups invite hikers in a supposed mountain cleanup activity with a bonus camping for a day or two in several spots inside the moratorium areas as part of their scheme.

Pangan also expressed alarm over the resurgence of trespassers who sneak to the top of Banahaw, citing the case of a female mountaineer who got lost from her group after going into the mountain last week. She spent the night inside a cave and had joined another group of mountain trespassers the next morning when found by a search and rescue team.