Currency Notes On the Brink

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Currency Notes On the Brink

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: ANALISA R BALA
• Published: December 1, 2023
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12854

Conservation status and population estimates

• The Philippine eagle is "at high risk of extinction," according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
• Researchers estimate there are just 392 potential pairs left.
• The eagle has a wingspan of more than seven feet and is found on just four Philippine islands.
• Eagle pairs need about 4,000–11,000 hectares of forestland to survive.

Habitat loss and historical range

• The eagle’s range once covered 90 percent of the Philippines, or about 27.5 million hectares of forest cover.
• That span has dwindled to only 7 million hectares, according to data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Awareness, symbolism, and public engagement

• Two proclamations by former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada: one declared the eagle the national bird, the other established Philippine Eagle Week.
• The new 1,000 peso banknote was released last year to “highlight the importance of the preservation of this endangered species,” and features the Philippine eagle and the national flower, sampaguita, on the front.
• The note’s design and security features won the International Banknote Society’s 2022 “Banknote of the Year” award, and it is the first in the country to be printed on polymer.
• Sara Curtis, a director at the Philippine central bank, says the banknote was intended to highlight preservation; Dennis Salvador, executive director of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), notes a “fundamental lack of information regarding their distribution and population size.”

Conservation actions and institutional efforts

• The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) is working with forest communities to reforest and protect cleared areas so the birds can travel and hunt in safety.
• PEF is breeding the birds in captivity to keep them from going extinct.
• Salvador expressed optimism in an interview with Living Bird magazine: “I think we have a real chance of saving the eagles, even with the little we have left. It’s just a matter of political will and attitude.”

Key takeaways and implied policy needs

• Immediate priorities implied by the article:
  • Scale up reforestation and protection of forest corridors to meet habitat needs of 4,000–11,000 hectares per eagle pair.
  • Improve information on distribution and population size to guide targeted conservation.
  • Mobilize a mass public movement and political will to sustain and expand conservation measures.
  • Support captive-breeding programs alongside habitat preservation to reduce extinction risk.

Currency Notes On the Brink — Analisa R. Bala, F&D Magazine, December 2023.

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• F&D Currency Notes: On the Brink
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  • F&D Currency Notes: On the Brink (PDF)