AbouT us
About Us
| what we do |
PhilinCon (formerly known as PESCP, the Philippine Endemic Species Conservation Project) is a non-government organization (NGO), headquartered in Pandan, Antique Province, Philippines. For more than 25 years, we have dedicated our work to the conservation of few remaining low-land rainforests in the country particularly in Panay Island in Central Philippines. One of our work’s main objective is the protection, preservation, and rehabilitation of the country’s few remaining rainforests and crucially threatened endemic (only occurring in the region) plants and wildlife. Most of our work is currently active in the Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park (NPPNP) and the Central Panay Mountain Range (CPMR).
Our work focuses on six different projects:
- Our Forest Rangers secure the protected area against illegal activities such as poaching and illegal logging.
- Provide sustainable livelihoods for local families as an alternative lifestyle to illegal activities.
- Nest Guarding of endangered hornbills to secure their continued existence in the wild.
- Reforestation in the Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park (NPPNP) and the Central Panay Mountain Range (CPMR) and wetlands.
- Education and Community Awareness about the importance nature and its conservation with involvement of Philippine and German Students.
- Research of Flora and Fauna in the Philippine rainforest at our research station.
- Operation of 3 Rescue Centers to rehabilitate formerly captured or injured wildlife.
have closer look at our history, aims & reports here
- PhilinCon is based on the nature conservation organisation Philippine Endemic Species Conservation Project (PESCP) which was founded in 1996 and renamed in 2010 to PhilinCon, each of them founded by Prof. Curio, biology Professor of the Ruhr-University Bochum.
- Also founded by him is the foundation “Stiftung Vogelforschung und Artenschutz (SVOA)” (Bird Research and Species Conservation) which supports PhilinCon and relies on conservation-oriented research on Panay to protect the endangered Walden’s Hornbill as well as other endangered species. Now the SVOA is managed by Christian Schwarz, Helga Schulze, Sofia T. Zeisig as well as Isabéla Curio.
- For research purposes, Sibaliw Station was built in 1997 in what was to become the NPPNP. Over time, several other projects have been started to protect the high biodiversity and make the locals aware of the local biological heritage by improving the sustainability.
- PhilinCon’s Head Office is located in Pandan, Antique, Philippines, close to the NPPNP.
PhilinCon’s overall activities are managed by a voluntary board of trustees where the members are elected for one-year terms. The board includes a mandatory majority of members of Philippine nationality.
The current (2021/2022) elected board members are:
President: Dr. Rebecca T. Barrios
Treasurer: Roger Florentino ‘Jude’ Sanchez
Secretary: Rhea Santillan
Board Member: Christian Schwarz
Board Member: Dr. Daphne
Board Member: Dr. Condez
Board Member: John Carl Alonsagay
| the people |
Dr. Rebecca Barrios
Director & Researcher
Dr. Rebecca T. Barrios or Doc Bec is our organization treasurer and a member of the regional advisory council for Visayas Fund for Philippine Environment. She has mentored twice for Global Training, Climate Reality Leadership Corp Training and Climate reality Project as well as presented research papers on a national and international level. In addition to her achievements within and outside of PhilinCon she is also a full-time mother of two and environmental activist and tree hugger. As a skilled resource speaker, climate presenter, and teacher she is an integral part of our team at PhilinCon.
M.Sc. Christian Schwarz
Researcher & Scientific Advisor
Chrstian J. Schwarz has a profound knowledge of Panay’s species and ecology which makes him an irreplaceable member of PhilinCon. In addition to his participation as PhilinCon’s scientific advisor, he is a skilled hobby photographer and working right now on his Ph.D. thesis about the effects of the invasive cane toad on the leaf litter fauna of Panay. Christian J. Schwarz was since 2014 until 2020 the project manager, when being on Panay. His first achievements were the reorganization of the Station supplies and an efficiency check of outdated workflows.
Rhea Santillan
Secretary & Bookkeeper
Rhea ‘Ging Rhea’ A. Santillan is our central contact person in the Philippines, being there for locals as well as oversea co-workers and being in charge of communication. She works warm-hearted and reliable as a secretary and bookkeeper for the future of the entire region with courage and determination. She enjoys working with people.
Dr. Enrique Sanchez
Veterinary & Wildlife Rescuer
‘Doc Bembot’, ‘Doc’ or Dr. Enrique R. Sanchez Jr. is an animal lover and a keen observer. He works simultaneously as a rescuer of native wildlife of Panay. Since PhilinCon’s current stronghold is the rehabilitation and release of endangered wildlife species, enthusiastic helpers like Bembot are crucial for the NGO. For many many years he was in the board of directors of PhilinCon and he is helping when help is needed.
In the Philippines
In Germany
B.Sc. John Carl Alonsagay
Social Media, Youth & Education
He has an undergraduate degree in education from West Visayas State University in Iloilo City, Philippines. He also received an academic fellowship training in environment and natural resource management from the East-West Center at the University of Hawai’i. Currently, he is doing his master’s studies in civil society studies at Ajou University in South Korea. His heart beats for climate policy, research, language, conservation, and graphic designing. John is currently the project liaison officer and president of the Alpha Team Organization, a Philippines-based youth non-profit, and is also helping PhilinCon.
Leocadio ‘Lindy’ Dioso
Liaison Officer, Commucation with Partners and much
Lindy or Leocadio F. Dioso is one of our most important members and supporters in conservation. He gives invaluable advice and assists PhilinCon by providing the office space. Furthermore, he is part of the board and the social soul of the NGO, and is responsible for networking between members and the externals. His passion, however, are books, and he helped Filipino people share this passion by building a public library in Pandan, and by initiating the “1000 Libraries Project”.
B.Sc. Sofia T. Zeisig
Website, Volunteer-Manager & Fundraising
Sofia Tschijevski Zeisig is studied Biology and now is doing her Masters of Biodiversity. She is involved in other initiatives like NAJU Bochum, Extinction Rebellion and Stadt Park Garten for a greener town. Moreover, she develops ideas and products for PhilinCon. Sofia experienced PhilinCon’s projects on-site in spring 2018 together with Tabea Wulms by staying on the Sibaliw Research Station. With Tabea Wulms they build this webpage and organized street activities and media representations in social media and newspapers. Now she is Volunteer-manager and helps fundraising.
M.Sc. Helga Schulze
Biologist, Scientific Illustrator and much more
Helga Schulze supports the project for over 20 years by taking care of the project archives and illustrating all kinds of publications. She is also a great help for Prof. Curio. Her special interest is the Philippine culture. Also she is caring for conservation of lorises.
Employees
Ranger
6-18 Ranger risking their lifes to preserve nature
Forest rangers monitor the rainforests of the Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park to prevent illegal activities like logging and wildlife poaching. We employ between 6 & 18 rangers for monthly or weekly patrols, depending on funding. At the moment (2020) we have 18 Rangers who patrol every two weeks.
Caretaker
Our caretakers are also station employees at our research station and wildlife sanctuary. They take care of the bird feeding twice a day, the cleaning of the cages and any necessary repair work at the station.
Our current (2020) station staffs are: Elizer Ebon, Ulysses Ebon, Dondon Geronimo, and Vladimir De Guzman.
A list of caretakers can be found here [Stationstaff pdf].
Porter
Carry supplies for the station & hornbill rescue
The porters carry food and material for the birds and caretakers at the Walden’s & Tariktik Hornbill and research station.
Guides
For birdwatcher and scientists
Guides are hired to accompany visitors to the sibaliw research and wildlife sanctuary because the way there leads through the rainforest on unpaved roads. The locals – often rangers or former station staff – know the routes and have deep knowledge about the rainforest which they gladly share with the visitors. In addition, they accompany researchers and bird watchers on their exploration tours on Panay.
Philippine Volunteers & Members
Roger Florentino Sanchez
Board Member PhilinCon
Maren Gaulke
Scientific Partner
Maren Gaulke is a longterm scientific partner. We cooperate with her for more than 10 years. She lives in the Philippines and published a lot about reptiles. See publications.
Pergentino ‘Jun’ Bandayrel Jr.
Communication & Press
Volunteers
Philippine Volunteers
Tree plantings, Clean ups & more
PhilinCon would not be what it is today without our volunteers. The team members are dedicated to environmental conservation. It does not matter the age, background or experience. Great work with lots of fun and impact is done with the help of our PhilinCon friends, fans, volunteers and supporters.
German Volunteers
Creative & Fundraising Team
PhilinCon would not be what it is today without our volunteers. Most of our german team members are professionally not connected with environmental conservation but this dedication unites them. It does not matter the age, background or experience. Great work is done in secret and remote: the website, fundraising, networking, and much more would not exist without the extensive work our team invests in this NGO. There are much more for whose commitment we are grateful.
We want you
We are always looking for volunteers.
Please contact us! We, and the rainforest, are very happy about any help:
please contact or email the philippine team office-pandan@philincon.org
the german team either via email sofia.philincon@gmail.com or call/whatsapp +49 176 9310 1396
THANK YOU
read more
Read more about our projects here
Or have a look at the contact us page for more contact details