Palaui island Protected landscape and seascape Cagayan’s island paradise

The Palaui Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (PIPLS) in the municipality of Sta. Ana in Cagayan, known as the game-fishing hub of the Philippines, is an island paradise teeming with unique wildlife. working on a draft guideline in preparation for the reopening of the island to tourists.

as chairman of the island’s Pamb, Bambalan is eyeing to resume tourism activities on the island without compromising the health and wellbeing of both the tourists and the people on the area.

“I am really for limited scale [in tourism]. We want to avoid exposing the local communities,” she said.

She said Sitio Palaui, where the communities are concentrated, should be closed to tourism until an established safety and health protocols are put in place and integrated with tourism guideline.

She said part of the island can still be open to the public to generate income which is important in running the PIPLS. Beautiful island according to Bambalan, the island is a beautiful island, giving the denr one good reason to protect it from destructive human activities.

“We know that Palaui is very beautiful. I’ve seen its forest cover and it is still intact. There are many flora and fauna. Biodiversity monitoring is conducted there. The area has priority species both in terrestrial and coastal areas,” she said.

according to Bambalan, the island boasts of dipterocarp tree species that can be targeted by illegal loggers.

“It is only an 8,000 hectare island and it is very fragile,” she said.

She maintained that the people living on the island are prohibited from cutting trees.

“There’s no tree-cutting or harvesting of trees there. But agricultural activities within the designated areas are allowed,” she said.

however, she said farming on the island means planting root crops and fruit-bearing trees, adding that there are other ways to earn on the island without targeting its fragile environment.

“They are subsistence farmers and they are fishers. They are also earning a lot from ecotourism,” she said.

Bambalan underscored the need to maintain the current pristine status of the island’s ecosystem, particularly the coastal and marine area, saying it is one of the reasons why Sta. ana is teeming with commercially viable fishes.

“The mangroves are very important. and the coral reefs there are habitats of fishes. That’s why there’s plenty of fishes in Sta. ana. Plus, of course, our ecotourism activities because we maintain our good forest cover, making the tourists are attracted to it,” she said.