PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) is featured in ‘A Photo Exhibit on Palawan’s Wetlands’, an activity collaboratively organized to commemorate World Wetlands Day. This year’s theme revolves around the value of wetlands in sustaining livelihoods. The exhibit will run from 2 to 5 February at the Robinson Place Palawan.
Also showcased in the exhibit is the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP) in Puerto Princesa City, one of the two Ramsar Sites in Palawan with the TRNP, and other important wetlands in the province.
The Tubbataha Reefs was one of the three Philippine wetlands that made it to the Ramsar List in November 11, 1999 with the Naujan Lake National Park in Oriental Mindoro and Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Agusan del Sur. While Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Cebu is the first inscribed Ramsar Site (1994), the Underground River in 2012 and the latest inclusion is the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area in 2013. The Tubbataha Reefs and Underground River are also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The annual celebration of World Wetlands Day commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, also known as the Ramsar Convention, on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. In the Philippines, Presidential Proclamation No. 74 affirmed February 2 of every year as National Wetlands Day.
The World Wetlands Day Celebration in Palawan is made possible through support from the Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc., the City Government of Puerto Princesa, Robinsons Place Palawan, Grapiko and ALC Printing House. The exhibit is organized by the Department Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO, CENRO Puerto Princesa City and CENRO Taytay) together with the TRNP, PPSRNP and Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.