Philippine Natural Wonders (part 2)
Posted by: Dakilang Pasaway in Mabuhay Ka Pinoy, NoyPiAlam nyo ba?
Animal Sanctuary
Located northwest off Palawan mainland is Calauit Island, a 3,700-hectare wildlife sanctuary that serves as a host to African and Philippine wildlife. The Philippine government developed the sanctuary in response to an appeal by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to save the endangered animals. The only one of its kind in the Philippines, Calauit is home to over 600 species of giraffe, impala, topi, gazelles, eland, and zebra and to Philippine endangered species such as the Calamian deer, Palawan bearcat, Philippine mouse deer, tarsier, pheasant peacock, scaly ant-eater and monitor lizard. The island also provides a refuge to sea turtles (pawikan), giant clams and the rare seacow or dugong.
Largest Natural Park
The Sierra Madre national park in northern Luzon is the country’s largest natural park. The 359,000-hectare park is the home of endangered species such as pawikan (Chelonia mytas), bayakan or giant bat, Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), wild boar (Sus philippinesis), Philippine brown dear (Cervus marianus), cloud rat (Ratus mindorensis), flame-breasted fruit dove, kalaw (Philippine hornbill), bukarot (Philippine crocodile), and native owl.
Richest Marine Park
The Tubbataha Reefs in Sulu Sea is considered as the world’s richest bio-geographic area. Derived from two Samal words meaning, “long reef exposed at a low tide”, Tubbataha was declared as the country’s first national marine park in 1988. The marine park covers 33,200 hectares and contains what is believed to be the world’s largest grouping of marine life, per unit area. Scientists claimed that more than 300 coral species, and at least 40 families and 379 species of fish were recorded in the area. Among the species identified in the area were manta rays, sea turtles, sharks, tuna, dolphins and jackfish. In 1993, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed Tubbataha Reefs as a world heritage site.
World Heritage Sites
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has included four places and four Catholic churches in the Philippines in the list of world heritage sites. These include the historic town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur province, which is known for its Spanish colonial houses; the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan province, which boasts of the world’s longest underground river; the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park also in Palawan, which is home to over 300 coral species and 400 species of fish; and the rice terraces in Ifugao province, which cover about 20,000 hectares of the Cordillera mountain range.
The four Catholic churches also included in the list of world heritage sites are the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo, which the Agustinians built as a fortress-church in Baroque-Romanesque style on a hill in 1786; the Nuestra Se? dela Asuncion in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, which is located on a hill surrounded by a stone wall; the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila, which was built as early as 1587; and the Church of San Agustin in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, which was made of coral stone and was adorned like an Asian temple.
Philippine Natural Wonders : Source
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