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After a year of rigorously implementing capacity-building initiatives, seminars, and training sessions, the BatWISE Project officially concluded with a closing program on October 26, 2026, at Cafe Martina, University of Southern Mindanao (USM), Kabacan, Cotabato.
The BatWISE Project is a Commission on Higher Education (CHED)-funded initiative aimed at promoting bat conservation and sustainable agriculture by utilizing bats as natural biological pest control for local farmlands.
The program began with an overview of the project’s implementation stages, highlighting the key agricultural and environmental issues it sought to address, presented by Project Leader Prof. John Aries Tabora.
“BatWISE is an extension project born out of Ma’am Dory’s research. As the results revealed that pest infestations on rice crops and wildlife hunting were major challenges, we developed the bat box. Now, we are thrilled to strengthen our initiatives through a local ordinance in Kabacan,” Tabora shared.
Following the overview, Dr. Florence Roy Salvaña, Extension Unit Head, underscored the vital role of community engagement in achieving the project’s overall success in his message of support.
“This project cannot thrive in isolation. The active participation of our local communities and stakeholders is the true backbone that drives these conservation and agricultural efforts forward to meaningful success,” Salvaña emphasized.
The program then transitioned to Brgy. Cuyapon, Kabacan, where the project team, alongside Barangay Council members from various barangays across Kabacan, visited one of the first established bat boxes in the area.
Proven to be an effective tool for collecting guano (bat waste), the bat box serves as a valuable resource for producing organic bio-fertilizers. For local farmers, this innovation helps reduce reliance on costly commercial chemical fertilizers, lowering production expenses while maintaining crop yields.
“Masaya po kami dito sa Cuyapon kasi nakatulong talaga sa amin ‘yung mga paniki sa pagkontrol ng mga peste sa palayan. Ngayon, mas lalo kaming na-e-excite kasi napag-alaman din namin na maaaring maging pataba ang kanilang mga dumi,” one of the Cuyapon farmers stated.
(“We are very happy here in Cuyapon because the bats have truly helped us control pests in our rice fields. Now, we are even more excited learning that their waste can also be processed into fertilizer.”)
The event concluded with an Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) meeting to map out the way forward for the project’s newly passed wildlife protection ordinance on bats. The meeting brought together key stakeholders from the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Kabacan, Barangay Council members, and USM’s Extension Services Office (ESO).
Set for handover to the Monitoring and Impact Assessment (MIA) Unit of the Extension Services Office, the BatWISE Project ensures long-term sustainability through institutionalized local government support, a continuous monitoring framework, and community-led conservation practices. This milestone reaffirms the university’s institutional commitment to delivering community-driven extension programs and sustainable agricultural solutions to local farming communities.
