Where the pawikans are
Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) recognizes the importance of environmental sustainability. Its support for Aboitiz Cleanergy Park’s Pawikan Center is one of its many initiatives to make this world a better place for everyone — including pawikans or sea turtles.
What was once eight hectares of grassland along a coast in Punta Dumalag, Davao City is now an outdoor biodiversity learning center, ecological preserve, and haven for sea turtles.
An initiative of the Aboitiz Group and managed by Davao Light and Power Co., a subsidiary of AboitizPower, the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park’s Pawikan Center now stands as a model of habitat conservation and biodiversity management. Environmental care practices, along with local government and civil society support, help protect pawikan nesting areas and hatchlings within its premises while nurturing injured adult green sea, olive ridley, and hawksbill turtles back to health.
“We receive a lot of interest in the work we do here,” shared Davao Light Reputation Enhancement Department Head Fermin Edillon. “That’s why apart from conservation efforts, we conduct educational sessions and volunteer activities for various groups, especially school children.”
He added that the experience allows them to highlight the importance of protecting sea turtles and encourage community participation in ongoing environmental efforts.
Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The presence of pawikans within the territorial waters of Davao City, along with the enthusiasm to collaborate on multi-sectoral conservation and protection activities, paved way for a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to be created between Davao Light, the Aboitiz Foundation Inc., the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Region XI (DENR-XI), and the City of Davao.
The MOA established the “Pawikan Center” in the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park to serve primarily as a hatchery and rescue center facility for marine turtles. The protection and care of marine turtles in Punta Dumalag is important as pawikans in the area were prone to poaching and illegal fishing practices.
The objectives of the Pawikan Center are aligned with the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 14 (Life Below Water), 13 (Climate Action), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
“The Aboitiz Cleanergy Park builds and contributes to these established principles together with the local community and various organizations and groups, putting people face-to-face with the UN SDGs,” said Davao Light President and COO Enriczar Tia. “Community-based conservation and environmental stewardship is at the heart of our efforts on that coast in Punta Dumalag.”
Specifically, its objectives are to conserve and protect the nesting area of marine turtles; identify, document, and address threats to marine turtles and their habitats; improve understanding of marine turtle ecology and population through research, monitoring, and information exchange; enhance public awareness and participation in the conservation and protection of marine turtles and their habitats; and enhance cooperation with the community for the long-term recovery of the marine turtle population.
Since the conservation efforts also included mangrove and tree planting, this helped increase the number of birds in the area. Supporting SDG 15 (Life on Land), objectives to improve and maintain native vegetation to provide optimal nesting, feeding, and shelter areas for local and migratory bird species were later added.
Big impact
The Aboitiz Cleanergy Park Pawikan Center is a story of success. What started as an ordinary grassland is now a haven for critically endangered sea turtles. The project team identified and onboarded partners from different aspects of society, leading to greater awareness and engagement, and collaborative programs like tree plantings and enhancement of the turtle rehabilitation facilities.
“The park has gained popularity, and the community knows that if they are able to rescue a pawikan, they immediately turn it over to Aboitiz Cleanergy Park,” Edillon observed. “The neighboring community also has been educated to properly segregate and secure their trash so they do not go to the sea and pose a danger to the marine creatures, especially the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.”
The Center was able to rescue five adult pawikans from 2023 to 2024. In total, eight endangered reptiles were given veterinary care at the facility during that time, in coordination with the DENR-Region XI.
In October 2024, after spending years at the Center, a hawksbill that was found with spear wounds and an olive ridley that was picked up weak and floating in the sea were deemed fully recovered and set free before a crowd that cheered as the two swam away. Since 2014, 32 pawikans have been rescued and accommodated to varying results.
A total of 22 turtle nests were also secured in the same two-year span, leading to a hatching rate of over 80%. Park personnel were able to identify, monitor, and secure threatened nests, and transfer them to the hatchery, resulting in safer hatching conditions. If left to disturbances and predators, the hatching rate declines to 25% or less. However, with the intervention of the center, 2,162 turtle hatchlings were released; more than 10,000 since 2014.
The Center accommodated 8,210 visitors in the same period. Students, families, and public and private organizations either joined the tours, tree planting activities, coastal clean-ups, and, when fortunate, the release of turtle hatchlings.
Volunteerism allowed 3,221 mangroves to be planted in 2023 and 7,220 the following year. The enhanced flora led to an increase in bird species, from just five in 2014 to about 108 in 2024.
“We’re looking forward to accommodating more visitors in the Park. Local residents, schools, organizations, and our own Aboitiz team members are welcome to partake in the tours and volunteer activities,” Tia said. “More collaboration can only bring in new ideas, resources, and technical support while fostering a shared sense of responsibility.”
Truly, AboitizPower’s active initiation and participation in biodiversity conservation created a spark that brought people, communities, and groups to a shared goal of protecting the world where people and wild life all live.
