DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 25, 2013) – Mount Hamiguitan Mountain Range Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern Philippine province of Davao Oriental is expected to be considered for inscription as a World Heritage natural site next year, according to a statement sent by the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Mindanao Examiner.
With its high number of unique, endemic and globally-threatened species of flora and fauna, the Philippines nominated the mountain range for inscription in the World Heritage List, it said.
Studies have shown that the mountain range is home to some 1,380 species of flora and fauna with 341 endemic to the Philippines, including that of the critically-endangered Philippine eagle and the Philippine cockatoo as well as the Shorea polysperma, S. astylosa and the orchid Paphiopedilum adductum, among others.
The DFA said after deliberations during the 37th Session of the World Heritage Committee being held in Phnom Penh in Cambodia, the Philippines was requested to formally submit information related to land claims and the expanded boundaries of the property.
The Mount Hamiguitan nomination was therefore referred for discussion possibly in next year’s World Heritage Committee meeting. It is expected that once the Philippines submits all the requested additional information before February 2014, consideration for inscription will be undertaken in June 2014.
The Committee, however, commended the Philippines for the Agreement that was signed between the province of Davao Oriental, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and key stakeholders such as the indigenous peoples groups, to protect and conserve the integrity of the site.
The Philippine delegation to the World Heritage Committee meetings in Cambodia, led by Philippine Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Cristina G. Ortega, welcomed the support of many Committee members who recognized the remarkable biodiversity of the property.
Also in Cambodia to lend expertise about the Philippine nomination was Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon, UNESCO National Commissioners (UNACOM) for Culture Architect Michael Manalo and Eric Zerrudo and UNACOM experts for world heritage concerns Architects Augusto Villalon, Joycelyn Manghaya and Dr. Domingo Madulid.
Next year, the Philippines fully expects that Mount Hamiguitan will be added to the World Heritage List which already includes 967 properties, of cultural, natural or mixed sites, deemed to have outstanding universal value to humanity.
If it is inscribed, Mount Hamiguitan will join the five other World Heritage sites in the Philippines—Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Puerto Princesa Suterranean River National Park, Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras, Historic Town of Vigan and Baroque Churches of the Philippines.
The Philippines is one of the 190 State Parties to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. The country is currently an observer in the World Heritage Committee which is tasked with the implementation of the Convention.
The Committee is composed of 21 States Parties and meets once a year and decides whether a property is to be inscribed in the World Heritage List. It examines state of conservation reports on properties already inscribed in the List and it can also ask State Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed.
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