Rasa Island is a flat

coral island A coral island is a type of island formed from coral detritus and associated organic material. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas, typically as part of a coral reef which has grown to cover a far larger area under the sea. Ecosystem ...

in the

Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...

just off the coast of the municipality of Narra in

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is a shallow island surrounded by

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...

and tidal flats containing one of the country's last remaining coastal forests. The island is home to the largest population of the endemic and critically endangered

Philippine cockatoo The red-vented cockatoo (''Cacatua haematuropygia''), also known as the Philippine cockatoo and locally katala, abukay, agay or kalangay, is a species of cockatoo. It is endemic to the Philippines though pressured by various environmental degradat ...

in the wild in the Philippines. It was declared a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 2006.

Geography

Rasa Island is a large irregular

mangrove swamp Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

on a coral reef that extends about beyond the island at its southwest and northeast ends. It is located about from Casuarina Point and forms the northeastern side of Mantaquin Bay. Only one-third of the island is permanently dry with the remaining two-thirds exposed to the occasional tides. To its north lie Arena Island and other small coralline islands on the coast of

Aborlan Aborlan, officially the Municipality of Aborlan ( tgl, Bayan ng Aborlan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 38,736 people. It lies in a vast plain between the Sulu ...

. To the south across the Mantaquin Bay are Linda and Emelina islands. Rasa Island is administered as part of the Narra

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...

of Panacan. It is just north of the Narra ''

poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippine city or municipality, which may take up th ...

'' and approximately south of Palawan's provincial capital,

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon language, Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the ...

Biodiversity

Rasa Island is a natural habitat of the globally threatened

, known locally as ''katala'' and also known as the red-vented cockatoo, a parrot species endemic to the Philippines. In order to protect this bird species whose number dropped sharply from as many as 4,000 in 1994 to only about 1,000 in 2001 due to illegal poaching and rapid deforestation of its coastal environment, the Philippine government declared the whole island and surrounding waters a bird sanctuary known as Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary. The bird sanctuary is now administered by the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman, DENR or KKLY) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, developmen ...

in partnership with the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Program of the

Katala Foundation Katala Foundation, Inc. (KF) is a non-profit, non-stock and non-governmental organization that is active in protecting and conserving wildlife, particularly the critically endangered Philippine cockatoo or red-vented cockatoo (scientific name: ...

. Former poachers from the Tagbanua community of Narra now serve as the island's deputized wildlife wardens. A number of other endemic birds have also been observed in the island such as the

blue-headed racket-tail The blue-headed racket-tail (''Prioniturus platenae''), also known as the Palawan racket-tail and locally as ''kinawihan'', is a parrot found in the western Philippines around Palawan. The species was formerly considered conspecific with the blu ...

grey imperial pigeon The grey imperial pigeon (''Ducula pickeringii'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in the Sulu Archipelago, Miangas and Talaud Islands. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and plantations. It is thr ...

Chinese egret The Chinese egret or Swinhoe's egret (''Egretta eulophotes'') is a threatened species of egret from east Asia. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1860. Description The Chinese egret averages 68 cm in height. The plumage ...

and

Mantanani scops owl The Mantanani scops owl (''Otus mantananensis''), is a small owl in the scops-owl genus ''Otus'' found on small islands between Borneo and the Philippines. It is listed by the IUCN as "near threatened" because its range is limited with its popu ...

. Its waters also host a significant population of

green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

s and

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

s. Apart from mangroves, Ipil trees also grow on the island.

Geography

Biodiversity

See also