Tubbataha Celebrates 19 Years in the World Heritage List
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – 11 December 2012 – Today the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park celebrates its 19th year as World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was on December 11, 1993, when Tubbataha Reefs was inscribed in this prestigious list in recognition of its outstanding universal value to humankind.
The protection afforded to the reefs since its declaration as Philippines’ first national marine park in 1988 has reclaimed Tubbataha’s unique and outstanding natural beauty. It’s inclusion in the World Heritage List five years later has shed spotlight on this offshore twin atolls lying in the middle of the Sulu Sea- 150 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan’s capital city. This has brought not only prominence amongst the Filipinos but a sense of responsibility to safeguard the reefs from human-inflicted threats.
In 2006, the size of the Park was expanded thrice its original size from 33,200 to 97,030 hectares through Presidential Proclamation 1126. This has caused for the renomination of the Tubbataha Reefs in the World Heritage List in 2009 to include the Jessie Beazley Reef, an adjacent reef located northwest of the original two atolls.The Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board (TPAMB), the sole policy-making body of Tubbataha, salutes the brave men and women who have generously shared their lives to keep Tubbataha a living heritage for the present generations and to come.