Turtle Islands declared an ASEAN Heritage Park

Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo courtesy of ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 29 November) – Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS) in Tawi-Tawi has been named as the 60th ASEAN Heritage Park, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) said in a press release Friday.

TIWS is the only major nesting habitat of Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Philippines, and the only one in the ASEAN region, the ACB said.

“There are 281 flora species reported in the Turtle Islands and based on DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) records, there are 414,529 nests of Green Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles recorded in TIWS for the past 29 years with an average of 13,817 per year,” it said. 

TIWS was among the five sites recently added to the list of ASEAN Heritage Parks. Two of the five site are also in the Philippines – Apo Reef Natural Park in the MIMAROPA region and Balisasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park in Negros Oriental.

The two other sites are Phou Xieng Thong National Protected Area and Nam Poui National Protected Area in Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

“Turtle Islands was identified as Extremely High for biodiversity conservation and was declared a Turtle Island Heritage Protected Area through a Memorandum of Agreement between the Philippines and Malaysia in 1996. TIWS is also a member of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia Marine Sea Turtle Site Network.

“This marine sanctuary is a premier ecotourism destination where visitors can engage in ecotourism activities like turtle watching, scuba diving, snorkeling, birdwatching, and nature walks through pristine coastal forests and mangroves,” the ACB said.

The Philippines now has 12 ASEAN Heritage Parks two of which, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Palawan and Mt. Hamiguitan Range Natural Park in Davao Oriental, are also listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The other ASEAN Heritage Sites in Mindanao are Mt. Apo Natural Park (Davao City, Cotabato, Davao del Sur), Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park (Bukidnon), Mt. Malindang Natural Park (Misamis Occidental), Mt Timpoong-Hibok-Hibok Natural Monument (Camiguin), and Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (Agusan del Sur). (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)