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Chriz

@chriz_danan

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A marine biologist and visual artist who believes that protecting our biodiversity for both terrestrial and oceans starts with a creative spark🌊👩🏻‍

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𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗.🦇🌳

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The draft proposal map made by the DENR in 2018, clearly shows the forest proposed for protection since 2004. These 119.85 hectares, are the actual 200 meter buffer zone to the nearest roost site, that DENR pointed out in 2004 when they issued the ECC to Boracay property holdings inc / Tatay Sa Kauswagan. As indicated again and again, the flying foxes roost in this forest, and they move roosting location with the winds and the season, making most of the forest cover an active roost site.

Since the property is not marked for protection, the developers' threats keep on repeating, hence the need to establish a CRITICAL HABITAT ZONE.

After Boracay Property Holdings Incorporated (BPHI) purchased the land, they were always keen to sell it, and hired a private wildlife specialist to come and investigate the limitations. Thus in 2014, a survey of the area took place, together with DENR plus two (2) persons from Friends of the Flying Foxes. FFF were invited to assist as we had the facts of the areas from all studies previously made by scientists.

However, FFF was not aware that the facts recorded would then be used for misleading purposes. As you can see on the second photo, the map created in 2014 by DENR staff during the survey, indicated three (3) red dots showing the main roost locations, based on all the facts we shared that came from years of wildlife specialists studies of the area. The 3 dots showed the main roost points for that time of year.

During the day of the survey May 11, 2014 the flying foxes were hanging in an area of their summer roost location, near Puka shell beach to get the cool winds from the ocean. The area was marked on the map as ROOST, and barely covered 1.5 hectares. . See Facebook page for full post details...

Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/save-boracay-s-last-remaining-wildlife-forest-and-puka-shell-beach?recruiter=17293445&recruited_by_id=fe157beb-ed97-4903-9b5a-f9912c0cfe45&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&share_id=9QhZPxyz5z taken in Boracay Island, Philippines by @chriz_danan

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16 hours ago

Where the forest meets the sea 🥰book your stay in Boracay at Diniview Villa Resort, Your house in Boracay, your escape to paradise🌊🦋🌳🌴

Walk down the beach in one of my favorite coffee, breakfast, and all day dining spots at DiniBeach Bar & Restaurant☕🥞🥗🍝🍛 by @chriz_danan

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2 months ago

July 4-5, 2026 taken in Buruanga, Aklan by @chriz_danan

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3 months ago

taken in Boracay Island, Philippines by @chriz_danan

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3 months ago

Beyond the beach lies a thriving ecosystem. 🌊🦇

Boracay is actually a crucial sanctuary for three species of fruit bats and multiple insect bats. 🦇🌳

These incredible creatures are the island's natural reforesters and mosquito-control squad. 🌳🥭

Protect Boracay's endangered species! 🇵🇭✨ #EcoBoracay #WildlifeConservation #limestoneforest #batsofboaracay #flyingfox fruitbats boracayislandphilippines taken in Boracay Island, Philippines by @chriz_danan

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3 months ago

My kind of recovery- Art Playdate with @kamisari.artcollective. Thank you for inviting us💙

Nature Cyanotype Prints 🌀💙💠 taken in Haboean Weaving Studio and Cafe by @chriz_danan

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4 months ago

𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗮🦇

𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘆🚐

The next stop was in 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝘀-𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 in 𝗦𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲, where we saw a relatively big colony of flying foxes roosting at the back of the school and its adjacent small patches of native trees.

The FFF team together with DENR CENRO Culasi personnel 𝗠𝗿. 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝘆 𝗗. 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 (Forester I) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗿. 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼 (Forest Technician II), and researchers from 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲-𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼-𝗟𝗶𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘀, 𝗗𝗿. 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗦. 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗰𝗮𝘆𝗮, 𝗠𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗕. 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗮, and students 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮, 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗼, 𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗼 𝗝𝗿. conducted an observation and a quick average count as initial data gathering. Even though the time is very short, FFF will surely return to conduct environmental awareness with the students in the coming school year.

After this, we went to Buruanga and were warmly welcomed by MENRO Buruanga, where we conducted an awareness campaign attended by LGU Buruanga and Barangay officials.

Following the talk, we proceeded to 𝗣𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆, for cave bat observation and documentation.

We are very grateful for the opportunity and the shared interest of our partners in preserving the amazing '𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀' of the Northwest Panay Peninsula: the 𝗳𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀🦇 by @chriz_danan

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6 months ago

🦇𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻, 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲🦇

🗓️On March 25, 2026, FFF surveyed Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park, specifically to Antique, to locate both old and new bat roost sites.

🌏📍Our first stop was in Brgy. Guia, Pandan, Antique.

🔭📝We conducted species identification and individual counts alongside our colleagues from the CENRO Culasi—𝗠𝗿. 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝘆 𝗗. 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 (Forester I) and 𝗠𝗿. 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼 (Forest Technician II)—as well as faculty and students from the 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 - 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘀, including 𝗗𝗿. 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗦. 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗰𝗮𝘆𝗮, 𝗠𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗕. 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗮, and students 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮, 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗼, and 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗼 𝗝𝗿.

🖨️🗒️Prior to our visit, we created bat information leaflets translated into two local dialects for distribution within the communities.

🦇🌳We are happy to share these materials with any municipality within the Northwest Panay Peninsula.

Tune in for more bat updates! 🦇🔭 taken in Brgy Guia Pandan Antique by @chriz_danan

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6 months ago

This Balinghai/Hagdan beach location has become a popular tour stop destination for boat trips around the island.🛥️⛵⛴️

🔇As the tourists stop at the beach, very few are aware of the bats roosting in the trees above them. There is an 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 that the party boats play as well as many of the 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗻𝘀 when it's time to leave. 😥 😵‍💫🦇

👩🏻‍🏫This time, FFF conducted some awareness information to the local tour guides while staying in the area explaining the 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽.🦇💤

🦇𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹, that means they sleep during the day, and 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 them and disturbs their sleep which we see when they do constant fly outs and circling their roost.

🧬This in turn 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 and 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆. We already lost the larger flying fox colonies from the island, so let’s make sure we retain what we have, as they are our 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 and 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, natural 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 and 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. 🦇🌱🌳🥭

🌳Overall, these flying foxes 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟵𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 on our island and in the Northwest Panay Peninsula area.

📜We have created a 𝗯𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘁 that we distributed to the guides and vendors at the beach, hoping this can help. We would love for all the island tour boats to have them as well, and we are happy to share with any tour operators. 🫶🏻

We plead to all tour boats to STOP HONKING YOUR HORNS, AND PLAY LOUD MUSIC while visiting the Hagdan beach!🙏🏻🦇 taken in Balinghai Beach, Boracay by @chriz_danan

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6 months ago

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗶/𝗛𝗮𝗴𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵!🦇🌳🏝️

Our first check was at the roost site near Balinghai, on the newly named Hagdan beach.🏝️

Pol Cariño and Crisanta Danan, led the roost counts; documenting the number of males, females and pups, over the days that passed we did several exit counts as well and the largest exit count was estimated at 𝟯𝟲𝟮 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀.🔭🌳🦇

This roost contains 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝙋𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙨 (𝗜𝗨𝗖𝗡: 𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗).

Being 𝗺𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀, bats usually have just 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗽 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 and nurse them throughout their early development.🦇 When the bats fly out at night to feed, the mom will either carry the nursing pups or stay behind at first, taking turns flying out to find food and regurgitating it later to their young once as they return to the roost and then fly again to feed themselves this time around.🍌🥭🌴😋

The pups we saw were estimated to be more or less one month old and still clinging to the sides of their moms. Other pups were already hanging right beside their moms and clasping their tiny claws along the branches.🦇🍃

It's very nice to see that many of the Bats had babies in the Balinghai roost.🥰🦇🦇🦇

Follow our page for more updates!🌳🦇 taken in Balinghai Beach, Boracay by @chriz_danan

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6 months ago

Acrylic painting inspired by the ocean, thank you Sir! 🫶🏻

All glory to God 🙏🏻 by @chriz_danan

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7 months ago

On February 12, FFF went around the Northwest Panay Peninsula to check out some new and old locations where bats are now reported to roost.
The first stop was in Buruanga. However, due to the weather condition northwest winds of Tayabas, the winds in the said location were strong and no bats were seen on that date.

Our next stop was in Barangay Guia, Municipality of Pandan, Province of Antique. This is a location we have visted several times since 2020, and this roost have grown since 2018 when many of our bats in Boracay left. These bats are roosting on a huge Ficus balete tree along with some coconuts and other Ficus species within a residential and agricultural area. Some residential homes also surrounded the roost with approximately 15 - 20 meters.

On Feb 12 the weather conditions where not ideal as it rained, and many of the bats covered their bodies with their wings, that made it harder and more difficult to determine the species.
We counted a total of 1,386 individuals of flying foxes, a mix of Large flying foxes Pteropus vampyrus and Small Island flying foxes Pteropus hypomelanus.

Our last roost count in this site was on August 18,2025 and then FFF’s bat expert Apolinario Cariño was precent and we counted a total of 1543 flying foxes with, approximately 1,031 individuals of Small Island flying foxes Pteropus hypomelanus (IUCN: NEAR THREATENED) and 512 individuals of Large flying foxes Pteropus vampyrus (IUCN – ENDANGERED respectively.
Pol was assisted by Rebecca Tandug and Parcel Dryden G. Fernandez of PhilinCon with the barangay tanods of Barangay Guia; Rico S. Omatang and Darwin D. Dales.

It’s lovely to see that the colony size remains stable and we will return to conduct counts as well as share information about our foresters THE FLYING FOXES and help with some bat awareness initiatives 🦇💚

Stay tuned, for more updates 🦇🦇♻️

📸 @eriksson.evamarie @pol.carino @chriz_danan @julialervik taken in Northwest Panay by @chriz_danan

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7 months ago