When it comes to wildlife watching, the Philippines stand out as a tremendous opportunity that every single interested tourist should consider. We are talking about over 7,000 islands, making up a huge diversity of animals that you would love. When referring to bird endemism, the country is ranked fourth and 5 percent of the entire world’s flora is actually found in the country. In the past 10 years there were 16 brand new mammal species that were discovered.
Vertebrates
In the Philippines you can find 185 terrestrial mammal species. 558 bird species were recorded till now and 171 will only be visible in the country, which is quite impressive. 95 amphibian species can be found here and 54% of them are currently considered to be endemic.
On the whole, we can say that there is a huge biological diversity that can be found in Philippines, the second largest archipelago country in the world, second online to Indonesia. The reason why the country has such huge species diversity is the fact that there is a tropical location and a once really extensive rainforest area. There are 5 minor and 5 major endemism centers.
WWF Influence
WWF Philippines played a huge role in protecting the wildlife of the country as it implemented development and conservation projects in 28 towns and 11 provinces ranging from the Turtle Islands to the Babuyan Islands. WWF is currently advocating suitable environmental policies while engaging sustainable businesses and corporations in order to conduct proper environmental education in main towns and cities of the country.
The conservation programs that are currently implemented include the protection of whalesharks, Irrawaddy dolphins, sea turtles and humpback whales in various Philippines islands.
Philippines Birdwatching Diversity
At the moment, there are 572 bird species that are recorded in the Philippines islands. 172 of these species are not found in any other place and are endangered because of the Philippine forest destruction. You will want to take a look at a list of all the bird species that are present and see exactly in what islands they appear due to the fact that some are going to be a little difficult to be spotted. Birdwatchers sometimes spend a lot of time looking for some of the species.
