THE Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) is now officially an Asean Heritage Park (AHP).
The Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) handed over the certificate to the TRNP management on Thursday during the ceremony held at the Provincial Capitol of Palawan in Puerto Princesa City.
The TRNP, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) World Heritage site, is the fifth location in the Philippines to earn the recognition as AHP. It is the 35th AHP and the country’s seventh. It is the first of its kind in the Philippines, it being a marine-based park.
The nomination of the TRNP was approved by the environment ministers of the 10 Asean member-states at the 15th Informal Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment held in October last year.
The TRNP boasts of a wide array of marine biodiversity. It is home to almost 80 percent of all coral species in the Philippines and to at least half of all coral species in the world.
The TRNP has 10,000 hectares of coral reef and at least 86,000 hectares of surrounding waters. It sits at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the center of global marine biodiversity in the world.
In 1993 TRNP was declared a Unesco World Heritage site.
In a statement, Angelique Songco, Protected Area superintendent of the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, said: “We hope we can serve as a role model to other marine natural parks.” She noted the need to be more vigilant in protecting the richness and beauty of Tubbataha.
Nelson Devanadera, director of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, said the declaration of the TRNP as an AHP is a welcome development, underscoring the need to highlight Tubbataha, not just as a diving site, but as “a biodiversity haven that is worth exploring for a total unique experience.”
Devanadera said the declaration also opens an opportunity to replicate the good practices of Tubbataha in other protected areas in the Philippines.
“Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is the Seventh AHP in the Philippines, and this is a testament of this country’s rich natural resources and biological diversity. This also underscores the need to conserve the park as it benefits the entire Southeast Asian region,” said lawyer Roberto V. Oliva, ACB executive director.
The AHP Program supports the management of a regional network of national protected areas of high conservation importance that provides a complete spectrum of respective ecosystems to generate greater awareness, pride, appreciation, enjoyment and conservation of Asean’s rich biodiversity. ACB serves as the secretariat of the AHP Program.
The other AHPs in the Philippines are Mount Makiling Forest Reserve in Laguna; Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary in Davao Oriental; Mount Iglit-Baco National Park in Mindoro; Mount Apo Natural Park in Davao; Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park in Bukidnon; and Mount Malindang Range Natural Park in Misamis Occidental.