Mike Lu
Mike Lu is a Pinoy tourist who travels for his environmental advocacy.
In the year 2003, Mike Lu organized the very first birdwatching club in the Philippines (called Wild Bird Club of the Philippines or WBCP), back when most Filipinos regarded birds as nothing to be concerned about, or that they only knew one bird species (usually the sparrow or maya) aside from chicken, duck and dove. Worse, when some locals look at wild birds as good air rifle or slingshot targets.
Mike with WBCP members and friends. One of the most impressive accomplishments of the birdwatching club is that is is able to hold annual birdwatching fairs that is driven by member volunteers. The club was able to convince and work with a growing number of local government units that bird conservation should be a priority program in their areas and birdwatching can be a way to help promote environmental awareness (as well as provide livelihood for their people).
It was indeed a surreal time when, aside from the academics and biologists, less than 100 ordinary Filipinos belonging to a hobby group would know that there were actually more than 600 species of birds in the Philippines and more than 200 are found only in this country. And those so-called birdwatchers, or birders, depending on one’s preference, are on a personal mission to see as many species as they can in their lifetime.
Members of Wild Bird Club teaching young ones some birdwatching skills in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat
Photo by Mike Lu
Students inside a birdwatching tower (not in the Philippines, though. But would love to see this kind in various parts of the country.)
Photo by Mike Lu
But there is a purpose much higher than the hobby. With the birdwatching club, mike represented the Philippines in various international birdwatching and conservation events that seek to promote the hobby and knowledge of birdwatching, as well as the environmental values of our avian friends.
Always spending their own hard-earned money for all their travels in the Philippines and abroad, Mike and the club members also became tourism marketers for the Philippines. By participating and meeting other like-minded people from other countries, Mike and the WBCP members are able to convince international birders to visit the Philippines to be part of birdwatching fairs and to see for themselves the endemic birds that are not found in any other country in the world.
The Wild Bird Club of the Philippines conducts guided birdwatching trips for the general public and also organizes trips upon request. Photo shows a group of home school kids after a birdwatching activity at the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park.
Another positive result of leading a “hobby group” is the social awareness that it is bringing to local folks and even decision makers and leaders. So-called birdwatching sites such as mudflats, coasts and mangrove forests become symbols of conservation, and other non-birder people become involved in activities such as coastal clean-up.
As a traveller with advocacy, Mike has touched thousands of lives who may have decided for themselves that they can be part of environmental movements. They learned, and they are now the ones making a difference in their own areas.
Philippine Pied Fantail (Maria Kapra in Filipino) on its nest, a fairly common bird in places with a good number of trees.
Photo by: Mike Lu
But as a typical traveller, he never fails to document his destinations thru shots of food and landmarks.
Heritage buildings all lighted up at the pedestrian-only Zhongshan Road in downtown Xiamen, the ancestral hometown of Mike Lu.
To know more about Mike Lu’s environmental advocacy through birdwatching, you can visit the website of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.