The Philippine Eagle Conservation Fundraiser (UK)

In life we all have passions that make life interesting, colourful and worth living. My passion is birds of prey and their conservation which lead me to start the UK charity Raptor Aid CIO and help educate people and conserve this amazing group of birds. There is one species in particular that has captured my imagination since I first saw them in a book as a child - the Philippine eagle, one of the largest species of eagle in the world an endemic only found on a few islands within the Philippines and a true national icon.

Unfortunately due to human impacts including habitat destruction and poaching the Philippine eagle is recognised as critically endangered based on a population of only 400 pairs left in the wild. They have a dependency on primary forest habitat and a slow reproductive rate, not reaching sexual maturity until 6 - 7 years and only raising one chick every other year meaning this species is facing extinction in the wild!

Philippine eagle chick in its nest - Your donation will help protect and reinstate these forests for eagles to survive in!

There is hope though in the form of the amazing Philippine Eagle Foundation who are working with local indigenous communities, educating the wider world and running the Philippine Eagle Centre where they educate the public, rescue and rehabilitate wild eagles and hold a captive breeding population of this eagle among many other native species.

A rare Pinsker' Hawk Eagle bred at the Philippine Eagle Centre - Your donation will help this work continue!

In 2018 alongside a friend I made my 2nd trip to the Philippines to assist with some training and to see first hand the work that is taking place to help protect and conserve this bird and its habitat. I was incredibly lucky to visit an active Philippine eagle nest site and learn how biologists and the local communities were working together, it was a dream come true to see a pair of these spectacular birds raise the next generation of Philippine eagle.

A proud local community who work closely with PEF biologists to protect the nest and the surrounding habitat - Your donation will help this work continue!

Adult Philippine Eagle at its nest with its young chick - Your donation will help biologists and communities learn more to help protect this species!

With UK charity Raptor Aid CIO I want to bring the plight of the Philippine eagle to more people and support the fantastic work of the Philippine Eagle Foundation by fundraising £10000 to help them continue the critical work they do. Every penny of your donation will go to the Philippine Eagle Foundation and a bonus is that if you are a UK tax payer you can add Gift Aid where the British government will match 25p for every £1 you donate!


Also available is an interview with Neil Rettig and UK based wildlife cameraman James Aldred via Raptor Aid's Podcast - Raptor Rambles. James himself has spent his career as a canopy access wildlife cameraman and visited the Philippines in 2018 with UK based Silverback productions to film an active Philippine eagle nest for the jungle episode of the Netflix series "Our Planet". To find out more about the life of a Philippine eagle chick growing up check out the Jungle episode of Our Planet here - Our Planet Jungles 

Raptor Aid Raptor Rambles Podcast  - Neil Rettig & James Aldred Interview

A special thanks must also go to Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin and the team at the Self Isolating Bird Club for hosting an episode of SIBC dedicated to the Philippine Eagle raising awareness about the plight of this species and the amazing work of the Philippine Eagle Foundation - you can hear from Dr. Jayson Ibanez, Head of Conservation & Research at PEF and watch the episode HERE .

Finally, here is a short video of thanks for supporting this fundraiser and making a donation - HERE .

Links -

Philippine Eagle Foundation 

Raptor Aid CIO 

Cornell Lab of Ornithology