CATBALOGAN CITY — The Samar Island Natural Park (SINP) has taken a significant step towards UNESCO World Heritage Site status by being included in the Philippines’ Tentative List for Nomination. This list serves as an inventory of properties that each State Party intends to consider for nomination.
Covering 335,105.57 hectares, the SINP is the largest legislated protected area in Eastern Visayas, spanning 34 municipalities and 3 cities within Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar provinces.
This nomination is a testament to the SINP’s environmental importance and cultural significance. It represents a major milestone in the region’s efforts to preserve its natural heritage and promote sustainable tourism.
SINP is a lowland forest reserve, home to the largest tract of relatively intact lowland forest in the Philippines and a rich population of dipterocarp species. Its mineral-rich mountain soil supports various forest and agroforest ecosystems, which are home to site- and country-endemic floral and faunal species deemed important from the point of view of conservation sciences.
The park has a tropical maritime climate characterized by a relatively high temperature, high humidity, and high levels of rainfall.
Within the park are four areas wherein the rich biodiversity and high rate of endemism converge: (1) Sohoton Natural Bridge National Park, (2) Calbiga Caves Protected Landscape, (3) Jicontol Natural Park; and (4) Taft Forest Philippine Eagle Wildlife Sanctuary.
Surrounding the edge of the core zone of the park are karst formations and underground watercourses that comprise the Calbiga Cave system. A closed canopy forest is found in the area of Borongan-Llorente located in the eastern side, where old growth rainforest is dominated by critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable species of the dipterocarp family.
The park’s highest peak is Mount Huraw, which stands at a vertical elevation of 811 meters above sea level and is identified as a nesting site of the critically endangered Philippine eagle.
In the northern area, the park boasts a three-layered gorge and river system, which draws the wonder of locals and tourists through its deep blue hue during summer. Surrounding the edge of the river are karst formations that comprise the Calbiga Cave system.
The Sohoton Natural Bridge features the Basey River and a natural stone bridge that connects two mountains. This area has its own network of caves, rock shelters, and waterfalls.
The Taft Philippine Eagle Sanctuary in the eastern part of the park serves as the natural habitat and nesting site of the critically endangered Philippine eagle. It is comprised of lowland evergreen forest characterized by a series of isolated small limestone hills and ranges that are narrowly separated by sloping grounds with sharp-pointed limestone outcrops or shallow mudflats.
With a height of 120 meters, the Amandaraga Falls in the southern part is another feature of the park. Its aquifer is dominated by a pygmy forest of several dipterocarp species, which are home to a diverse faunal population.
The park is home to a range of habitat and ecosystems reflective of Samar Island’s rich natural resources and biological diversity. There are six ecological forest types in the park: beach forest, mangrove forest, lowland evergreen forest, forest over limestone, forest over ultrabasic rock, and lower montane forest.
These ecosystems host floral and faunal species important from the point of view of science. At least 6 Dipterocarp species in SINP have been classified by IUCN as Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable. Of important note are the endangered and Samar-endemic Hopea samarensis and critically endangered and Philippine-endemic Shorea falciferoides.
The park is also crucial to the conservation and survival of at least three critically endangered and vulnerable reptile species, and at least five endangered mammal species, all of which are Philippine- or Mindanao-endemic.
Owing to the lush forests of the island, it is unsurprising that the park is a refuge to fifteen avian species, all of which are Philippine- and Mindanao-endemic and classified by IUCN as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. The conservation of these species is crucial to the regulation of ecological balance in the park, being that one of them is the Philippine eagle, the park’s top predator. Birdlife International has designated the park as an Endemic Bird Area (EBA), while Haribon Foundation has named sites of the park as Important Bird Areas (IBA).
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
Samar Island Natural Park is an assemblage of habitats and ecological systems that support floral and faunal species that are important from the point of view of conservation sciences. Its sheer size, spanning more than 300,000 hectares, and its placement within the Eastern Visayas Bio-Geographic Zone and the Greater Mindanao Fauna Region explain the diversity in the range of the ecological systems in the park as well as the uniqueness of the site-endemic species they support.
Samar Island belongs to a land mass representing the Greater Mindanao island that formed during the last ice age of the Pleistocene period after a 120-meter drop in the sea level. This exposed land-bridges, which provided access for colonization of terrestrial mammals within the Greater Mindanao Faunal Region. This explains why SINP is home to faunal species found in other islands within the region. Combined with being part of the Eastern Visayas Endemic Bird Area, SINP truly is home to a wide array of unique, Philippine-, regional-, and site-endemic species.
(The author, Ricky Bautista, is a former Assistant Advocacy Officer of the Samar Island Natural Park or SINP)
