Filtered By: Topstories
News

Some Metro restos still serving endangered species - WWF


Ordering delicacies served in some “fine" restaurants in Metro Manila may be putting in peril some endangered species, an environmental group warned late Tuesday. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said dishes like shark fin dumpling, turtle soup and Chilean sea bass are already contributing to the decline of such species. “With restaurants still serving endangered species with impunity, we should not be surprised that barely 1% of Philippine reefs remain in pristine condition. 40 million Filipinos rely on the sea for sustenance. The issue is not wildlife conservation. The issue is food," it said in a statement on its website (www.wwf.org). It commended some restaurants, including those in Makati City, for acting on the problem by removing the dishes from their menus. WWF noted that it took concerned citizens to report restaurants in Manila serving meat of endangered species on their menus. Yet, it lamented that several well-known restaurant chains still offer protected species like mameng. “WWF is appealing to these businesses to stop serving all threatened and endangered animals - organisms at risk of becoming extinct because they are either too few in numbers or are threatened by changing environmental or predation factors. The slaughter and sale of these animals is not only unethical - it is downright illegal under a host of local and international laws," it said. The group noted that Section 23 of Republic Act 9147 (Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act) explicitly limits the collection of all threatened wildlife for scientific, breeding or propagation purposes only. Section 27 prohibits the killing of any endangered animal unless it is for a religious or indigenous tribal ritual, the animal hosts an incurable and communicable disease or unless the animal is killed in an act of self-defense. Also, it noted that the Philippines, as a signatory of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), is also bound by an agreement to regulate trade in all species. “Unless special permits are issued by a governing body such as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) or the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), all trade in endangered species, including consumption and sale - is prohibited," it said. WWF added that the resolution of environmental cases should now be made simpler and faster. Among the species illegally sold as food include Giant Groupers, Dwarf Pygmy Gobies, Whale Sharks, Basking and Zebra Sharks, Big-eye and Blue-fin Tuna, Giant Manta Rays, Sea Turtles and numerous Whale and Dolphin species. - GMANews.TV

LOADING CONTENT