Alleba Politics

“We do not weave the web of life. We are mere strands of it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

Mr. Carlito Pizarras was only 12 years old when he started hunting for tarsiers in Bohol. However, several years later, after realizing that the tarsiers population has dwindled by a significant amount, he has started reversing his efforts from hunting towards conservation. In the mid-1990s he went to Metro Manila bringing with him two tarsiers to meet with Prince Charles of United Kingdom in order to get political and financial support for the plight of the tarsiers. His tireless efforts have lead to the illegalization of tarsier hunting and the establishment of a protected park and a foundation to finance the conservation.

The story of Mr. Pizarras change of heart is remarkable in that he does not possess great wealth or remarkable intelligence. He is just a simple man who amde the decision to make the right choice. He chose to do the right thing even if it meant foregoing financial rewards and going against his other community members who made a living out of tarsier-hunting.

He should serve as an inspiration to all of us. For there is little that he can do wtihout everybody’s cooperation. Conservation is something we should all partake in for we are all part of a very fragile balance in our environment. The endangerment and extinction of a single species, such as the tarsier or the Philippine eagle, could lead to effects of catastrophic proportions. Each species serve a role called niche in the environment. The tarsier, for example, is a predator of insects of moths, dragonflies and grasshoppers; and a prey of feral cats and some large birds. Thus, its extinction might lead to the overpopulation of the said insects and the endangerment of the feral cats and birds. Thus, tipping the fragile balance and consequently affecting us in unforeseeable but definitely negative ways. A small disturbance in the balance could lead to a snowball effect which would inevitably affect us.

We all live in the same planet, and unless each one of us strives to save it, we might just be the next species on the endangered or the extinct list.

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• Disaster