Mabuwaya Foundation: Working with local communities to save Philippine Crocodiles

This article was updated on 18 June 2025.

The Philippine Crocodile has not always been feared, but these days hunting and killing has led numbers to dwindle. The crocodile is now the rarest in the world and a focus of a dedicated conservation programme by Mabuwaya Foundation.

To celebrate World Crocodile Day, we invited ASAP Partner Mabuwaya Foundation to share with us the importance of conserving Philppine Crocodiles. Led by Marites Gatan-Balbas, also known as Tess, Mabuwaya Foundation works with local communities to conserve the remnant wild populations of the Philippine Crocodile and its habitat. ASAP is proud to have supported this work through the ASAP Species Conservation Grant. You can read about the project here.

Hear from Mabuwaya Foundation on what they do to protect this species from the brink of extinction.

Philippine Crocodile. Credit: Mvan Weerd

Why is it important to conserve Philippine Crocodile?

The Philippine Crocodile is the rarest crocodile in the world with less than 100 mature individuals in the wild. It is endemic to the Philippines with only two viable wild sub-populations: in Southwest Mindanao and in the municipality of San Mariano in Isabela Province in Northeast Luzon where we work. 

Philippine Crocodile habitat. Credit: Mvan Weerd

Classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Philippine crocodile has a very bad image in the Philippines. It is regarded as pest and threat to livestock and humans, even though Philippine Crocodiles are too small to be man-eaters. They are even associated with corrupt politicians. Habitat loss, hunting and killing out of fear are the main reasons the population of this species is very small. However, Philippine Crocodile was not always hated. Indigenous communities revered, and sometimes still do, this species as a protector of forest spirits or even as their ancestors or twins. Philippine folklore has lots of stories about mythical crocodiles, often portraying the species in a positive way. The general message of many of these stories is: if you don’t harm the crocodile, the crocodile will not harm you.

The Philippine Crocodile is as much part of the natural and cultural heritage of the Philippines as the Philippine Eagle or the Philippine Tarsier. It is the key predator in wetland ecosystems and an indicator of healthy natural river systems.  The Philippine Crocodile is nationally protected by virtue of the Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001. Enforcement of this law is however very weak, and crocodiles remain severely threatened in the Philippines.

What does Mabuwaya do to conserve the Philippine Crocodile? 

We use a community-based conservation approach to save the species from extinction. We work with communities to identify high conservation value areas and help to protect them by declaring them as Locally Conserved Areas (LCA’s). Billboards are provided in these LCA’s containing the rules and regulations in the sanctuaries. There are now eight crocodile sanctuaries in San Mariano protecting key habitat and nesting areas of the Philippine Crocodile.

Mabuwaya Crocodile Mascot, Krokey, during outreach campaigns. Credit: Mvan Weerd

Mabuwaya Foundation does a lot of communication, education and public awareness campaigns. We work with the local universities in designing our information materials. We provide posters and calendars with information to communities and offices. We give lectures to elementary and high school students and organise field trips to college students to see Philippine Crocodiles in the wild. The team also develop puppet shows and a mascot, Krokey, to perform and interact with the children during school visits.

Mabuwaya Foundation also provides biodiversity conservation training and workshops to science teachers with the objective that conservation will be integrated in the school subjects. Our other activities include organizing a Crocodile Festival with the Local Government and Department of Education, which is attended by a wide range of people within and outside the municipality. Based on surveys, most people in San Mariano are now aware of the Philippine Crocodile's threatened status and support its conservation.

Carrying out monitoring activities. Credit: Bernard Tarun

Apart from outreach programmes, we train our community volunteers/sanctuary guards in Philippine Crocodile monitoring activities and environmental law enforcement. They become our partners in the field. Together with our community volunteers, we assist the recovery of the population of the Philippine Crocodile by searching and protecting nests.

Hatchlings are collected and raised in captivity for two years (headstart program). This raises their chance of survival from 5% to 75%. After two years, they are released back into the wild, often by community members and school children. 

We help the communities and local government units to develop sanctuary conservation and management plans. These plans are adopted by the local government units and are incorporated in the Forest Land Use Plans or in the Comprehensive Land Use Plans of the municipality.

Law enforcement training. Credit: Mabuwaya Foundation

What are some of the challenges you face in your efforts to conserve the species?

Suitable habitat is scarce and unfortunately crocodiles are still being killed, including adults. The number of nests in the wild is still very low. The maximum we had was five (in 2022). Sometimes nests are being destroyed by water buffaloes stepping on them, or predated by monitor lizards, dogs or people. Also, in the events of typhoons and floods, crocodiles are being washed away and are killed downstream where human population density is high and where information campaigns have not reached people to raise support for crocodile conservation.  

What are your hopes on the future of Philippine Crocodile?

We are developing a Philippine Crocodile Conservation Centre on the campus of Isabela State University in San Mariano. This centre is the base of our headstart programme. In the future it will also host a captive breeding programme for Luzon-origin crocodiles, increasing the number of crocodiles to be released in the wild. The centre also will be a visitor centre with information about the Philippine Crocodile and the unique biodiversity of the Northern Sierra Madre Mountains of Northeast Luzon. Apart from the chance to see the rarest crocodile in the World, an eco-trail in the surrounding natural forest and agroforestry area will provide a learning experience to visitors about native trees and birds of the area and more sustainable ways to conduct agriculture.

Our hope is that through the headstart program, strong communication, public engagement, and the protection and restoration of the remaining suitable habitat, there will be more wild crocodiles and nests in the wild. We hope to see the Philippine Crocodile eventually be downlisted from its Critically Endangered status, with a stable and secure population

Philippine Crocodile hatchling. Credit: Mvan Weerd

Since 2023, there has been significant progress in their efforts to save Philippine Crocodile. Read about the latest updates as of June 2025.

Nests, eggs and hatchlings are very vulnerable to disturbance and predation so if we want an increase in the Philippine Crocodile population, we need to make sure more nests successfully hatch and more hatchlings survive and eventually breed themselves. We haven chosen not to collect eggs and incubate these artificially for two reasons: 1) Philippine Crocodiles exhibit elaborate maternal care with the parent crocodile often visiting and grooming the nest, helping eggs hatch by cracking them open and carrying hatchlings to the water and 2) we believe that having wild crocodile nests is an important component of the community ownership strategy we promote. So, nests are being sought by our community crocodile guards in the period March – June. Located nests are being monitored and sometimes guarded if necessary. We also now place a trail camera near every nest to document nest disturbance and crocodile behaviour.

If a nest is successful, some of the hatchlings are collected, and some remain in the wild. This is a deliberate strategy to spread survival chances and to not disrupt potential parental care too much. Collected hatchlings are raised in our Philippine Crocodile Conservation Center (PCCC) on the campus of Isabela State University in the municipality of San Mariano. So far, more than 400 Philippine crocodiles have been headstarted and released back into the wild.

Crocodile release with the DENR officials Photo credit: Mabuwaya Foundation

Tell us more about the Philippine Crocodile Conservation Centre (PCCC)?

Aside from housing hatchlings, the PCCC provides provides educational exhibits to local and foreign visitors, and a place for internships for Veterinary, Biology and Forestry students.

Two adult crocodiles are kept in the PCCC as they cannot be released into the wild: the female lost her lower jaw in a fight with other crocodiles and the male has been preying on livestock. They originate both from San Mariano but from different areas so they are genetically not related. In 2024, the pair mated for the first time but the eggs proved to be infertile. In 2025, that pair mated again and we are waiting for a nest to be built. If this pair successfully breeds, their offspring will be an additional stock of Philippine Crocodiles that can be released into the wild in San Mariano and hopefully also in other areas of their former range in the future.

The PCCC facility Photo credit: Mabuwaya Foundation

The Provincial Government of Isabela included the PCCC as part of the Tourism Circuit when visiting Isabela Province. The center has been promoted and visited by foreign visitors such as ambassadors from different countries. The PCCC will soon also be a one-stop-shop for visitors who visit the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, where they receive information about the park and can book tours.

What are some of the key achievements and milestone for the organisation?

Mabuwaya Foundation facilitated the development of a Wetland Management Plan in San Mariano that protects all freshwater wetlands including Local Conservation Areas for fish and crocodiles. This management plan was adopted by the Local Government Unit for implementation.

We also actively involve youth in biodiversity and crocodile conservation by supporting six youth environmental groups with about 1,000 members in total. Activities include Youth Environmental Camps, river clean-ups, adopt a forest and river programs and participation in  Biodiversity Fairs and Exhibits, such as the Bambanti Festival.

Communication, Education and Public Awareness Campaign Photo credit: Mabuwaya Foundation

In May 2025, Mabuwaya Foundation was awarded the Lagerwey Communication Excellence award for Environmental Stewardship by the Communication Foundation for Asia, in recognition of their sustained commitment to community engagement and biodiversity conservation through effective communication.