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A biodiversity frontier
The province of Palawan poke out to the West of the Filipino Islands like a long finger’s breadth squashed between the SouthChinaSea and Sulu Sea . narcotising seascape , vibrant coral reef , dense tropic forests and tough mountains make a complex ecosystem that swear out as refuge for many threatened creatures both on state and sea . Unlike much of the Philippines , Palawan still retain more than 50 per centum of its original timber cover , and arrest vast stretch of old growth forest on its mountainous side . Because of these intact resource , Palawan has been telephone the Philippines ' " last biodiversity frontier . “The Bacuit Archipelago on Palawan ’s northerly seashore is a wonderworld of dreamy islands , reefs and cerulean seas .
Paradise untouched
Palawan Island is surrounded by around 1,780 smaller islands , including the evenly spectacular Calamian Archipelago to the due north . Collectively these islands blow almost 2,000 kilometer ( 1,200 miles ) of coastline pockmarked with rocky coves , islets and powder - bloodless sand beaches . Many of the beach here are world social class tropical promised land . Some , like those near the pop tourist hub of El Nido in norther Palawan receive large numbers of visitors . Most remain largely untouched , visited only by passing fishermen and nesting ocean turtles . Nacpan Beach , pictured above , is a beautiful white medal of sand accessed by rugged roads to the northward of El Nido .
Striking and mysterious
Palawan is famous for its striking geology . island of vapourous , phonograph needle - like cliff contrast with shallow tropical lagoons . Mist shrouded mountain reach thrust up from shaggy-haired jungles . And mysterious limestone caves screen the subterranean landscape like honeycombs . Many parts of the Palawan are made up of karst , a porous limestone rock often assort with cave . Over time the lifelike appendage of erosion have eaten through the sonant limestone hills to make some of the reality ’s most spectacular cave systems , including the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park . Often just call " the underground river " this UNESCO World Heritage Site contains the long navigable hush-hush river in the world at over 24 kilometre ( 15 miles).This picture show the surreal entrance to the cloak-and-dagger river . Accessible by guided boat tours , the hush-hush river is a wonder of geology and an significant refuge for bat .
Unique creatures
Palawan was once connected to the nearby island of Borneo during the last Ice Age when ocean levels were much lower . Because of this connection Palawan ’s plant and animal are nearly related to that of Borneo . Palawan also has many specie of plant and fauna that are indigenous and establish nowhere else on Earth but here . Some notable Palawan species include the Philippine Mouse - deer , the Palawan Peacock - pheasant and the Palawan Bearded Pig . However , these big species are elusive and surd to see . visitor are more potential to encounter the songs of over 200 species of birds or glimpse one of the over 600 specie of butterflies that flit through sunbeam . This is a Wallace ’s Giant Birdwing Butterfly . As the name suggests the size of it of these butterfly stroke ' flank ( 6 inch across ) match that of the birds .
Palawan is sparsely populated and rural . Outside of the provincial majuscule of Puerto Princesa , a handful of small villages and settlements scatter the main island . One ( mostly ) paved route connects the north to the south . Traditionally many people on Palawan farm or Pisces the Fishes , trust on the amplitude of the land and the ocean for their livelihoods . The natural musical rhythm of nature have sustained people here for century . However in late years mellow migration rates from other parts of the Philippines and speedy urbanisation have put stress on natural imagination and traditional livelihoods . Paradoxically , the allurement of this place threatens to lead to its end . For now island rhythms and traditions are still common in most spot on Palawan , as in the sleepy town of Port Barton envision above .
Enchanted and interesting
At the far tip of northern Palawan Island the rocky outcrops of the hill dive into the sea and disappear . They re - emerge again across a turbulent straight of water to the North in the var. of the Calamian archipelago : a smaller , but some fence , even more beguiling group of tropic island . The Calamianes are primarily made up of the islands of Busuanga , Coron and Culion . Busuanga , the large , is the master larboard - of - call and largest island in the group . Culion has a mysterious history and was once the large leper dependency in the Philippines . While rugged , forest covered Coron is the ancestral home of the indigenous Tagbanwa mass and close off to visitors . These islands ' uncounted lagoons , mangroves , seagrass and coral Rand , ecosystems provide home ground for fertile concentrations of marine life such as dugongs and reef sharks .
Unspoiled
The island of Coron is mostly off demarcation line to visitor and tightly controlled by the autochthonous Tagbanwa people who are its traditional shielder . Undeveloped , Coron is a place of pristine lifelike beaut . Throughout the island ’s tough landscape painting are seven lake , all of which are sacred ethnical sites to the Tagbanwa people . Two are open to visitors , include Kayangan Lake , the clean and clear lake in all of the Philippines and all of Asia . With visibility extending for 80 foot ( 24 meters ) or more , the lakes of Coron provide superb opportunities for snorkel diving and dive . gamey echoing cliffs , ragged rock formations and clear , turquoise racy lake create a magical cathedral - like atmosphere for geographic expedition .
Living art
Palawan lie down in an arena of the world known to biologists as the " Coral Triangle , " a roughly triangular region comprehend the tropical marine waters between the Philippines , Indonesia and Papau New Guinea . This is the Amazon of the sea . More reef - building species of precious coral , tropic fishes and marine biodiversity are find here than anywhere else on Earth . The coral garden surrounding these islands are colorful dream human beings of life forms . Snorkeling and dive in these underwater ecosystem you may see green parrotfish munching on alga , small stripy cleaner fish curry visiting fish for parasites , sinuous eel and cryptic octopus ’s concealing in crevices or wizened sea turtle breaking the surface for melodic line . The renowned underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau declare Palawan one of the most beautiful seascape in the cosmos . This starfish is just a glimpse of some of the living art establish beneath the waves …
Vacation destination
The crystal clear water and rich coral Witwatersrand surrounding the Calamian Islands make it one of the dependable finish in the Philippines for snorkeling and diving event . Easily accessed by bangka sauceboat ( big outrigger canoes ) , the close shore waters of Coron Island also volunteer some of the good crash dive in all of Asia and the existence . A telephone number of Japanese ship that sank during World War II bedding the Coron ocean trading floor . Most of these wrecks ( 12 in all ) were Japanese supply ships anchor in Coron Bay when the US Navy launch a massive air rap that drop them . Today the skeletal corpse of these wrecks are nurseries of undersea life history . Many species of knockout and soft corals have attached to these accidental reefs . Amongst their colorful item plunger may slip up upon all variety of animals . On any chip in nosedive is the possibility of check creatures like semi - transparent cuttle , camouflaged frog fish , soft sea horses , school of barracuda and much more .
Protected but in danger
The entirety of Palawan province was declared a Biosphere Reserve by the United National Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) in 1990 because of its astonishing biodiversity and unparalleled indigenous cultures . Despite this designation , the future for Palawan ’s biodiversity and autochthonous groups front ominous . The felling of timberland , erosion of hillsides , and victimisation of piscary from population outgrowth and uncontrolled development jeopardise both the pristine ecosystems of the island and the future of the people who bet on them to live . The challenge in Palawan , like many places in the humanity today , lies in encounter ways to sustainably manage both natural resources and the bread and butter of people who depend on them . Safeguarding ecosystem service in the manakin of urine , rich territory , torrent control , carbon sequestration and eco - touristry benefit local residential district and have healthy ecosystem that can ensure Palawan continue to stay the Philippines biodiversity frontier …
