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[av_heading heading=’Bikers race for Panay’s biodiversity’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Friday, May 26, 2017
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SAN JOSE, Antique – The Antique Mountain Bikers Association, Inc. (AMBA) is holding its 4th Autajay Aningalan Ascent bike race to raise funds for the establishment of a biodiversity corridor bridging the isolated forest of the Sibalom Natural Park (SNP) and the large contiguous forest of the Central Panay Mountain Range (CPMR).
THE EVENT
The event is supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the German Society for International Cooperation (Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ).
On May 27, bikers will ride a 62-kilometer race from Guinsang-an, Hamtic to Aningalan, San Remigio, 875 meters above sea level.
The next day, a cross-country race of 15 kilometer will take place in Aningalan and will be joined by the German Ambassador in the Philippines, Gordon Kricke.
The former Miss Earth England 2015 Katrina Kendall will also attend the event and will be awarding the winners.
In the context of the International Biological Diversity Day, a photo contest on the theme “Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism” is being organized as part of the event and was advertised on the 22nd of May by a fun ride and a photo exhibit.
Other activities within the event include a tree-planting ceremony on May 28 in the Aningalan Watershed Area, as well as an Information and Education Campaign that will be held in Barangay Osorio, San Remigio with Kendall on the same day.
BIODIVERSITY CORRIDOR
For the second year running, funds collected through the bike race are meant to finance a biodiversity corridor to connect forests that have been separated due to human-induced degradation. This project was created on the initiative of AMBA and backed by the municipality of San Remigio.
Discontinuity of the forest cover has a negative impact on biodiversity as it isolates populations of animal and vegetal species and so jeopardizes their viability. Hence, establishing a corridor is key for the conservation of the species of the Central Panay Mountain Range, in particular the “Big five” endemic threatened species of Panay Island.
These endemic threatened species are the Visayan writhed-hornbill (Aceroswaldeni), the Visayan spotted deer (Cervusalfredi), the Visayan warty pig (Sus cebifrons), the Panay Monitor Lizard (Varanusmabitang), and species of the parasitic plant genus Rafflesia spp. (R. lobata and R. speciosa).
Thanks to the cooperative effort of the AMBA, the municipality of San Remigio and the support of the DENR, the first trees of the corridor have already been planted after the previous bike race in June 2016, and the project is expected to be further implemented with the funds from this year event./PN
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