Isla Biodiversity Conservation, Inc.

The Calayan Rail Project joined the Calayan town fiesta celebrations held on 21-24 August 2006 by setting up a biodiversity exhibit, conducting three educational contests and offering a face-painting service.

A photo-exhibit featuring ten Philippine-endemic or threatened species found in the Babuyan group of islands, including the Calayan Rail, was put up adjacent to the Calayan Municipal Hall. Information on the conservation status and threats, distribution, ecology of each species was on display both in English and in the local language, Ilocano. Around 100-250 people, mostly children, visited the exhibit each day.

Some exhibit patrons joined the quiz-raffle contest. Participants completed quiz forms by finding information presented in the exhibit and submitted them as raffle entries. Three entries who answered all 10 questions in the quiz form correctly were drawn from the pool of 200 entries and were declared winners. The winners, namely Jay-R Quijote, Jalecty Heruela and Christian Ventura, received a Calayan Rail t-shirt and a Calayan’s Natural Treasures 2007 calendar.

The exhibit was also a big hit to schoolchildren who participated in the coloring contest. Students were provided crayons and coloring sheets featuring the wildlife species presented in the exhibit and those whose coloring work most closely depicted the animals’ natural colors were judged as winners. A winner was picked in each of the following age categories: 5-8 years old, 9-12 years old, 13-16 years old and 17 years old and above. The winners were Marilou Fernando, Abigail Taban, Marcelino Fernando, Alvin Ballaran, Joyce Faylogna and Agassi Olivas, who each received a Calayan Rail t-shirt and a Calayan’s Natural Treasures 2007 calendar. Local community leaders performed as contest judges. The activity served to familiarize the participants with the appearance of local wildlife as well as develop their artistic skills. A total of 700 coloring sheets were used in the activity.

Children who wanted to have their arms and faces painted with local wildlife designs queued next to the exhibit area where ISLA volunteer-painters were stationed. While there were long lines of kids for the activity the limited number of volunteers could only accommodate a few of them.

Finally, a poster-making contest with the theme: "Ipateg ko ti nakaiparsuaan. Ipateg ko ti piding. (“I care for nature. I care for the Calayan Rail”) was held on 23 August 2006 at the Calayan Multi-Purpose Hall. Thirteen students from St. Bartholomew Academy, 11 students from Calayan High School and 1 out-of-school youth participated in the contest. Danilo Suarez Jr. bagged the top prize while Jessica Mae Pataueg and Orlino Orel Jr. won 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. They were all students of Calayan High School Winners received a Calayan Rail t-shirt , a Calayan’s Natural Treasures 2007 calendar and cash prizes courtesy of Calayan Mayor Joseph Llopis.