The Last Frontier

Unique to Palawan is its megadiversity.

Through the years, this paradise island-province has found a way to keep its natural habitat intact. It is the largest province in the Philippines with a total land area of 1.5 million hectares. The province is composed of a thousand islands and islets and home to a wide range of endangered endemic wildlife species such as the Calamian deer, bearcat, leopard cat, tarsier, wild boar, peacock pheasant, scaly anteater, talking myna, flying squirrel, skunk, porcupine and mouse deer among the few. The mangroves are home to the man-eating Philippine crocodile, while offshore sea grass beds are the habitat of the rare dugong. For a long time, these bountiful resources, abundant wildlife and extraordinary natural beauty are known only to the many ethnic communities that thrive in these islands and a few other daring settlers who wanted to live in unpolluted surroundings.

Palawan first attracted foreign attention in the 1970's when it became a United Nations Vietnamese Refugee Center. At this time, a disturbance in Kenya also saw the transport of endangered animals from its savannas to the plains of Calauit Island in Busuanga north of Palawan. These African species composed of giraffes, impalas, zebras, gazelles, waterbucks and elands, among others.

However, it was only a sea accident in 1979 that eventually led to the opening of Palawan into tourism big time.

As the story goes, a tuna line disabled a dive boat's propeller in the middle of the night forcing it to drop anchor in an inlet. The following morning, the divers woke up to an amazing scenery of skyscraping dark cliffs, thick green forest, white-sand beach, sparkling water and, rising above it, a series of magnificently sculpted jade islands. And thus was how El Nido was discovered.

Ecology awareness is at a high level throughout the province. Puerto Princesa prides itself as the cleanest city in the Philippines. To protect its megadiversity, only eco-friendly programs are adhered to by tourist establishments. And there are strict ordinances against dynamite fishing, with only net and line fishing allowed.

Palawan may have opened itself to tourism but it has also taken serious efforts to preserve this last frontier.