Two of the country’s fastest-growing ecotourism havens–Enchanted River and Tinuy-an Falls–are being eyed for tagging as “protected natural parks” to preserve their unique physical and biological features and shield them from potentially destructive human exploitation.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel has filed House Bills 1903 and 2116, proposing to add the two wonders of nature, both located in his home province, to the national registry of 240 protected areas.
“No effort must be spared to conserve the magical river and the majestic falls, both of which are now clearly in danger of degradation on account of unchecked human activities, spurred mainly by the growing number of local and foreign visitors,” Pimentel, a member of the House committee on natural resources, said.
“We want the proposed Enchanted River and Tinuy-an Falls natural parks to become the focus of highly aggressive conservation efforts, so that future generations of Filipinos may delight in their marvels,” Pimentel, a three-term former provincial governor, said.
Enchanted River is a scenic, deep spring tributary situated in Barangays Talisay and Cambatong in the municipality of Hinatuan.
The river was named by the late Modesto Farolan, the country’s first tourism commissioner (now the equivalent of tourism secretary), who was captivated by the waterway’s natural beauty and splendor during a tour, and wrote a romantic poem, “Rio Encantado,” about it.
The extraordinarily clear blue, 270-meter river flows into the Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean through Hinatuan Bay.
Dubbed as the country’s “Little Niagara Falls” after the great chutes that straddle the Canada-United States border, the multi-tiered cascades of Tinuy-an Falls are 55 meters high and 95 meters wide – the broadest falls in the Philippines.
Situated in Barangay Burboanan, Bislig City, Tinuy-an Falls has a highly diverse ecosystem that includes 235 varieties of plant and animal life, many of which have been marked “vulnerable” or “endangered.”
Under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992, portions of land and water may be reserved as “protected areas,” by law or by presidential proclamation, to safeguard and enrich their exceptional qualities.
The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau oversees all protected areas, mostly with the help of local governments, or the state-run corporation that owns or controls the area.
Thus far, the bureau’s list of 240 protected areas already covers 35,700 square kilometers, or around 12 percent of the country’s total land area.
The country’s largest protected area is the 761,416-hectare Palawan Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary, while the smallest is the 3.2-hectare Hinulugan Taktak in Antipolo, Rizal.