Thursday, February 24, 2011

...the hopeful wonder 2

DavOr vies for world heritage list

 
By MICK M. BASA
February 24, 2011, 3:22pm
 
GOVERNOR GENEROSO, Davao Oriental (DavOr) — Mt. Hamiguitan, the country’s home to the largest “pygmy forest,” is contending for inclusion in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) world heritage list.



Known for its unique and highly significant biological and physical features with outstanding universal value, the Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary (MHRWS) was included on December, 2010, in the tentative list of the Philippine’s cultural and natural heritage sites for inscription in the world heritage list, Jim O.
Sampulna, Region11 office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-11) director, said.

He said Mt. Hamiguitan is the only protected forest noted for its unique natural bonsai fields or pygmy forest located in the municipalities of San Isidro, Governor Generoso, and Mati in Davao Oriental.

It also presents the highest and richest biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna, having unique, rare, and threatened endemic species of outstanding universal value.

It has been ranked 7th among the 17 biologically-rich countries of the world, and has been identified as one of the Philippine “hotspots” by Conservation International.

Also endemic in Mt. Hamiguitan is the Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), the reason why it has been included by the Philippine Eagle Alliance as one of the first priority sites in Eastern Mindanao for conservation and protection efforts.

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