IUCN Letter expressing concern regarding the impact of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridges Project on Critically Endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in the Philippines

In late August 2020, Bruno Oberle, Director General of IUCN, and Jon Paul Rodriguez, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, signed a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Manila, Philippines expressing concern about the likely impacts of the proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridges project on the Critically Endangered population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Guimaras and Iloilo Straits.

Abundance of this population is estimated as only 10-30 individuals (Dolar et al. 2018).  The proposed entrances onto and exits from the bridge are in areas with relatively high densities of dolphins, and it is feared that the construction and operation noise will degrade this Important Marine Mammal Area.

To read the letter in full, click here.