The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the western coast of the

island of Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines that is located in the regions of the Philippines, region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the countr ...

, about north of the city of

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon language, Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in th ...

, and contains the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River (also known as the Puerto Princesa Underground River or just Underground River). It has been managed by the Puerto Princesa city government since 1992. It was listed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1999, and voted as a

New 7 Wonders of Nature New 7 Wonders of Nature (2007–2011) was an initiative started in 2007 to create a list of seven natural wonders chosen by people through a global poll. It was the second in a series of Internet-based polls led by Swiss-born Canadian Bernard Web ...

in 2012. It also became a Ramsar Wetland Site in 2012. A major tourist destination, it is mostly accessed through road trips to the seaside village of Sabang from where one of the many Bangkas (Kayaks) take visitors to the park

History

In 2010, a group of environmentalists and geologists discovered that the underground river has a second floor, which means that there are small waterfalls inside the cave. They also found a cave dome measuring above the underground river, rock formations, large

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s, a deep water hole in the river, more river channels, and another deep cave, as well as marine creatures and more. Deeper areas of the underground river are almost impossible to explore due to oxygen deprivation. On November 11, 2011, Puerto Princesa Underground River was provisionally chosen as one of the

. This selection was officially confirmed on January 28, 2012.

Geography

The park has a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

mountain landscape. Within the park the St. Pauls Underground River Cave is more than long and contains an underground section of the Cabayugan River. The river winds through the cave before flowing directly into the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

and is navigable by boat up to from the sea. The cave includes major formations of

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

s and

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

s, and several large chambers, including the Italian's Chamber with approximate 2.5 million square meters volume. It is one of the largest cave rooms in the world. The lower portion of the river up to from the sea, is subject to

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

influences. Until the 2007 discovery of an underground river in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River was reputed to be the world's longest underground river. The area also represents a habitat for

biodiversity conservation Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an i ...

. The site contains a full mountain-to-the-sea

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

and has some of the most important forests in Asia. It was inscribed by

as a

on December 4, 1999.

Flora

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National park 02

The park has a range of forest formations, the thirteen forest types found in tropical

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, namely forest over

ultramafic soil Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are usuall ...

s, forest over limestone soils,

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

, freshwater swamp forest, lowland evergreen tropical rainforest, riverine forest, beach forest, and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

forest. Researchers have identified more than 800 plant species from 300 genera and 100 families. These include at least 295 trees dominated by the

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

species. In the lowland forest, large trees including the dao (''

Dracontomelon dao ''Dracontomelon dao'', the Argus pheasant-tree, ''Pacific walnut'', ''Papuan walnut'', ''New Guinea walnut'', ''paldao'' or simply ''dao'', is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical Asia. Description ''Dracontomelon dao'' grows a ...

''), ipil (''

Intsia bijuga ''Intsia bijuga'', commonly known as Borneo teak, ipil, merbau, Johnstone River teak, and kwila, amongst many other names, is a species of tree in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, native to coastal areas from east Africa, through India and ...

''), dita (''

Alstonia scholaris ''Alstonia scholaris'', commonly called blackboard tree, scholar tree, milkwood or devil's tree in English, is an evergreen tree in the oleander and frangipani family Apocynaceae. Its natural range is from Pakistan to China, and south to northe ...

''), amugis (''

Koordersiodendron pinnatum ''Koordersiodendron'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Anacardiaceae. It only contains one known species, ''Koordersiodendron pinnatum'' Its native range is Malesia to New Guinea. It is found in the countries of ...

''), and apitong (''

Dipterocarpus gracilis ''Dipterocarpus gracilis'' (Tagalog: ''panao'' / Indonesia: ''kaboa'' aka ''sancang'') is a critically endangered species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Distribution and habitat ''D. gracilis'' ...

'') are common. Beach forest species include bitaog (''

Calophyllum inophyllum ''Calophyllum inophyllum'' is a large evergreen plant, commonly called tamanu, oil-nut, mastwood, beach calophyllum or beautyleaf. It is native to the Old World Tropics, from Africa through Asia to Australia and Polynesia. Due to its importance a ...

''), ''

Pongamia pinnata ''Pongamia pinnata'' is a species of tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, native to eastern and tropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. It is the sole species in genus ''Pongamia''. It is often known by the synonym ''Millettia pinnata''. ...

'', and ''Erynthia orientalis''. Other plant species include almaciga ('' Agathis philippinensis''), kamagong (''Diospyros pulganensis'') pandan (''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

'' sp.) anibong, and rattan (''

Calamus Calamus may refer to: Botany and zoology * ''Calamus'' (fish), a genus of fish in the family Sparidae * ''Calamus'' (palm), a genus of rattan palms * Calamus, the hollow shaft of a feather, also known as the quill * ''Acorus calamus'', the swee ...

'' sp.).

Fauna

Birds comprise the largest group of vertebrates found in the park. Of the 252 bird species known to occur in Palawan, a total of 165 species of birds were recorded in the park. This represents 67% of the total birds and all of the 15 endemic bird species of Palawan. Notable species seen in the park are the blue-naped parrot (''

Tanygnathus lucionensis The blue-naped parrot (''Tanygnathus lucionensis''), also known as the blue-crowned green parrot, Luzon parrot, the Philippine green parrot, and locally known as pikoy, is a parrot native throughout the Philippines and the Talaud Islands of Indon ...

''), Tabon scrub fowl (''Megapodius cumunigii''), hill myna ('' Gracula religiosa''), Palawan hornbill ('' Anthracoceros marchei''), white breasted sea eagle (''

Haliaeetus leucogaster The white-bellied sea eagle (''Icthyophaga leucogaster''), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related ...

''). There are also some 30 mammal species that have been recorded.Madulid, 1998 Most often observed in the forest canopy and along the shoreline feeding during low tide is the

long-tailed macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settleme ...

(''Macaca fascicularis''), the only primate found in the area. Other mammal species in the park are the

Palawan bearded pig The Palawan bearded pig (''Sus ahoenobarbus'') is a pig species in the genus '' Sus'' endemic to the Philippines, where it occurs on the archipelago of islands formed by Balabac, Palawan, and the Calamian Islands. It is in length, about tall a ...

(''Sus ahoenobarbus''), bearcat (''

Arctictis binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverridae, viverrid native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on th ...

''), Palawan stink badger ('' Mydaus marchei'') and the Palawan porcupine ('' Hystrix pumila''). 19 species of reptiles have been identified, eight of which are endemic. Common species in the area include large predators like the common

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a Pythonidae, python species native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of largest snakes, longest snake, and the list of largest snakes, third heaviest snake. I ...

(''Python reticulates''), the monitor lizard (''

Varanus salvator The Asian water monitor (''Varanus salvator'') is a large Varanidae, varanid lizard native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is widely considered to be the List of largest extant lizards, second-largest lizard species, after the Komodo ...

'') and the green crested lizard (''Bronchocoela cristatella''). Amphibian fauna include ten species. The Philippine woodland frog (''Rana acanthi'') is the most dominant and frequently encountered. One species, ''

Barbourula busuangensis ''Barbourula busuangensis'' is a species of frog in the family Bombinatoridae. It is also known under the common names Philippine flat-headed frog, Palawan flat-headed frog, Busuanga jungle toad, Busuanga disk-tongued toad, and Philippine aquati ...

'', endemic to Palawan was also observed in the area. Nine species of bat, two species of swiftlet and whip spider (''Stygophrynus'' sp.) are found in the cave, and the sea cow ('' Dugong dugon'') and the hawksbill sea turtle (''

Chelonia mydas 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 ...

'') feed in the coastal area of the park.

International reception

Puerto Princesa Underground River was entered as the Philippine entry – and topped the first round of voting – in the

competition. On July 29, 2011, after the second round of voting, it was declared 1 of 28 finalists. Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn extended his gratitude to all those who supported and voted for the PPUR. On November 11, 2011, it was provisionally chosen as one of the New7Wonders, together with the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

Halong Bay Halong may refer to: * Ha Long Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority, a former type of administrative organisation of the NHS in England and Wales * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (renamed ''Highways En ...

Iguazu Falls Iguazú Falls or Iguaçu Falls ( , ; ; Tupi: Y Ûasu "big water") are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. Together, they make up the largest waterfall sys ...

Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...

Komodo Island Komodo ( ) is one of the 17,508 islands that comprise the Republic of Indonesia. It is particularly notable as the habitat of the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard on Earth, which is named after the island. Komodo Island has a surface area of 29 ...

, and

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

.Voting procedure for the New7Wonders of Nature
at vote7.com On January 28, 2012, Malacañang expressed elation over the official inclusion of the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) in the world's New Seven Wonders of Nature. "Confirmation that the Puerto Princesa Underground River is one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature is welcome news indeed. Throughout the competition, Filipinos from all walks of life have given time, energy, and resources to this campaign," Presidential Spokesperson

Edwin Lacierda Edwin Lacierda (born May 8, 1962) () is a Filipino lawyer and technology entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the online payments company, PayMongo. He was a member of the Philippine Cabinet and Presidential Spokesperson of President Benigno ...

said. Department of Tourism spokesman and Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon Jr. said the underground estuary made it into the world's New Seven Wonders of Nature after the validation process conducted by the New7Wonders Foundation last year. The voting was criticized, especially the Philippine voting. Nothing in the New7Wonders voting procedure prohibited repetitive voting, making the results subject to government and tourism industry campaigns to vote often for local sites with the financial incentive of increased tourism. Philippine President

Benigno Simeon Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and Colloquialism, colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of ...

, in his speech during the official proclamation launch of the Puerto Princesa Underground River as one of the 28 finalists, urged the country's 80 million cellphone subscribers to vote PPUR via text. On June 30, 2019, Puerto Princesa underground river was celebrated with a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

References

External links

{{authority control National parks of the Philippines World Heritage Sites in the Philippines Ramsar sites in the Philippines Protected areas established in 1999 1999 establishments in the Philippines Subterranean rivers Caves of the Philippines Landforms of Palawan Tourist attractions in Puerto Princesa