By Elizabeth E. Escaño

Preservation of the Puerto Princesa Underground River should not end when the final results of the search for the New 7 Wonders of Nature are announced early this year, after the process of confirmation and verification of global votes is completed.

Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn stressed on the local government’s intent to preserve the city’s natural heritage site in the midst of expected boom in tourism, according to an Inquirer article.

“We view the Underground River’s recognition as a perfect opportunity to again showcase our commitment to preserve our natural environment as our legacy to the whole world,” Hagedorn said.[6]

The Philippines’ very own world-acclaimed subterranean river was announced as a provisional finalist to the New 7 Wonders of Nature inNovember 11 last year.Consequentially, tourism had a significant boost, since the advent of the global search.

Tourist influx

In anonline Inquirer article, Puerto Princesa City tourism officer Rebecca Labit was quoted saying that tourist arrivals jumped “[f]rom just around 600 visitors a day” during 2008, to “as many as 1,500 visitors to the cave a day” by the time the river, along with the other six finalists were announced[1] .The Amazon rainforest, Vietnam’s Halong Bay, South Korea’s Jeju Island, Indonesia’s Komodo, South Africa’s Table Mountain complete the list of provisional winners[1].

Puerto Princesa tourism officials were quoted as recognizing the task that comes with this large increase of tourist arrivals in an online article in loQal.ph [2].

“What remains as the greatest challenge and opportunity for us is to keep promoting nature preservation to locals and tourists first and foremost,” said James Mendoza, Underground River protected area park superintendent.

National Park

The 8.2 km underground river goes through a cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites as it makes its way to the sea[1]. It is a part of what is known as the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP), a key biodiversity conservation area in the country. The PPSRNP in turn, is a key part of the Palawan Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also recognized the park in its List of Natural World Heritage Sites [3]. It is also the first national park in the country that is managed by the local government.

Mendoza was quoted saying that they will carry on preserving the protected area. According to him, tourists would be strictly monitored and kept up to 600 people only. Those who work on the park also believe in the need to keep the waters clean, as the area is also a forest watershed. Visitors are also discouraged from touching anything to preserve the natural setting.

“It is not our goal to commercialize the tourism in the park but to educate tourists that conservation of nature can be done,”said Mendoza.

Government Stance

Four days after the official announcement of the provisional finalists, the Department of Tourism (DOT) issued a press release, which said that “there is more reason than ever to strengthen environmental protection measures”[4].

Puerto Princesa mayor Edward Hagedorn is against all mining activities for his city, which is home not only to the underground river, but toendangered birds, forests and minerals as well [1].

In an online article in the Mindoro Post, Hagedorn was quoted saying that in Puerto Princesa, “Almost every square meter has an application for a mining permit. The problem is that permits require the mayor’s endorsement and definitely, we cannot give-in to that.”

There is also a group, No To Mining in Palawan And other Key Biodiversity Areas that encourages support against mining in the form of an online petition. According to the group, mining in Palawan is “killing indigenous people and poisoning rare wildlife”, including the area where the underground river is.