The Department of Tourism (DOT) is looking at the birdwatching tourism model used in Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung in developing a similar niche product for the Ilocos Region, specifically in the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte.
Birdwatching in Ilocos
The DOT said birdwatching is among the emerging niche products that the agency is keen to further strengthen, especially as it seeks to “decentralize” tourism activities in already popular destinations and bring more attention to lesser-known sites in Ilocos.
“When you go to (Kaohsiung in) Taiwan, grabe ang birdwatching nila (their birdwatching there is great), it’s so small yet so green. What they did is they built wooden decks around the greenery,” DOT Region 1 (Ilocos) Director Jeff Ortega said.
“That’s the goal (to model it from Kaohsiung) and that’s part of our tourism development plan for birdwatching,” he added.
The budget to construct these facilities, however, “is another story,” he admitted.
DOT and DENR partner on birdwatching trails
In the meantime, DOT Region 1 is actively partnering with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Ilocos to identify areas that have potential as birdwatching trails.
To date, Ortega said the DOT has classified as “ready” for birdwatching Pangasinan’s Bani, Bolinao, and Lingayen; La Union’s Agoo, Bauang, San Fernando, and San Gabriel and the Kalbario-Patapat Natural Park in Pagudpud.
The Kalbario-Patapat is a good birding location for birdwatcher who wants to get a chance to see a variety of species such as the flame-breasted fruit-dove, spotted imperial-pigeon, Philippine eagle-owl, whiskered pitta, green-faced parrotfinch, yellow bunting, tanguile, short-crested monarch, scale-feathered malkoha, Luzon bleeding-heart, and Luzon hornbill, among others.
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