FEATURED BIODIVERSITY
Featured Wildlife Species (Fauna)
Platymantis insulatos or Gigantes Limestone Frog
Featured Wildlife Species (Flora)
Philippine Lipstick Vine Aeschynantus rejiae
Featured Protected Area
El Nido – Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area
Featured Key Biodiversity Area (KBA)
Pagbilao and Tayabas Bay IBA area
Featured Wetland
Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve in Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (SIPLAS)
Featured Critical Habitat/ Local Conservation Area
Carmen Critical Habitat for Marine Turtles
Uniqueness of Philippine Biodiversity
Overview: The Philippines is considered a mega-diversity country rivaled only by a few countries in the world when it comes to variety of ecosystems, species and genetic resources. Many of the island comprising the archipelago are believed to have a very high degree of land and animal species endemism covering at least 25 genera of plants and 50% of terrestrial wildlife. The country hosts more than 52,177 described species, of which more than half is found nowhere else in the world. On a per unit area basis, the Philippines probably harbors more diversity of life than any other country on the planet. Understanding the impact and threat of human activities to the natural environment particularly the effect of increasing population, resource exploitation and industrial advancement and recognizing the critical importance of protecting and maintaining the natural biological and physical diversities of public lands that are habitats of rare and endangered species of plants and animals, biogeographic zones and related ecosystems, the Philippine government provided by the Constitution established the comprehensive system of integrated protected areas or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS). Last 2022, four(4) new additional Protected Areas where declared as Protected Landscape bringing to 248 the total number of Protected Areas from the previous 244.
Presently, with the passage of RA 11038 or the Expanded NIPAS Act of 2018, the total number of PA's nationwide increased from 244 to 248.
The 248 Protected Areas under NIPAS covers 7.79M has composed of the 114 Legislated, 13 Proclaimed and the remaining 121 Initial Component.
Terrestrial PAs (4.67M has.) cover 15.6% of total land area of the Philippines
The Marine PAs covers 3.14M has or 1.42% of the total sea area of the Philippines