Philippines

Surface of Coral Reefs: 27000 km2

The Philippines is one of the 8 founding countries of ICRI.

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is a 97,030-hectare Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Palawan, the westernmost Philippine province. It is located 150km southeast of Puerto Princesa City, at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the global centre of marine biodiversity. Tubbataha is composed of two huge coral atolls – the north atoll and the south atoll – and the Jessie Beazley Reef, a smaller coral structure about 20 kilometres north of the atolls.

The park contains roughly 10,000 hectares of coral reef. Scientists have been visiting these reefs since the 1980s, and their research has shown that Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is home to no less than:

• 600 species of fish
• 360 species of corals (about half of all coral species in the world)
• 11 species of sharks
• 13 species of dolphins & whales
• 100 species of birds
• nesting site of Hawksbill & Green sea turtles.

Tubbataha is a strictly ‘no-take’ zone and is the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the Philippines. For more information, go to: http://www.tubbatahareef.org

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is a Ramsar Site and also a World Heritage Site.