Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information Several restricted-range and threatened species have been recorded on Tablas, which lies within the Tablas, Romblon and Sibuyan Secondary Area. It is likely that the Balogo watershed forests supports some of the largest surviving populations of these birds, although birds were rather few in number and diversity was low there in 1998, but some of the other forest patches may also prove to be important. This IBA is of particular importance for the threatened Streak-breasted Bulbul, which is represented on Tablas by the subspecies I. s. cinereiceps, which is only known from Tablas and Romblon. This form differs substantially from the other subspecies of Streak-breasted Bulbul, and it has been proposed that it may be distinct enough to be treated as a full species. Three subspecies of birds are endemic to Tablas, Spangled Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus menagei, which was feared extinct but was rediscovered at Dobdoban in 1999, and Blue-headed Fantail Rhipidura cyaniceps sauli and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum trigonostigma cnecolaemum, which were both apparently fairly common in secondary habitat in 1998.

Site description Tablas is the largest of the three main islands of Romblon Province, the other two being Romblon and Sibuyan (PH058). It covers 828 km2 and lies east of Mindoro and just north of Panay. While Sibuyan is very steep and difficult to cultivate, Tablas is relatively gentle in aspect with fertile plains and rolling hills which are under rice cultivation and coconuts, and the forest cover is now almost completely gone. The largest area of remnant forest on the island is the reserve forest in the Balogo watershed and the nearby Burburanan forest. The Balogo watershed is in the north of Tablas and appears to be on very infertile soil, which is probably why it has also not been cleared for agriculture or coconuts, but also means that the biological productivity is relatively low. Most of the remaining forest in the Balogo watershed forest was found in 1998 to be very low, about 3-5 m high, but on the summits of the hills and on the steep, southeast slope some original forest was still present.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Calatrava, San Andres San Agustin	Watershed Forest Reserve	2,570	protected area contained by site	2,570

Habitats

Other biodiversity The mammals of Tablas are virtually unknown, and thus more surveys are needed.

Management considerations Most of the forest on Tablas has already been converted to agricultural land. In 1998, illegal loggers were reported to be taking trees from the areas of good quality forest in the Balogo watershed, one of the very few surviving areas of primary forest on the island.

Protection status Not officially protected.

References Allen (in prep. a).

Contribute  Please click here to help BirdLife conserve the world's birds - your data for this IBA and others are vital for helping protect the environment.

Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Balogo Watershed. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 18/06/2013

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife