National parks and protected areas of the Philippines Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

The Philippines has over 240 national parks and protected areas, encompassing about 15% of the country's land area. They are managed by the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources through its Biodiversity Management Bureau.

The Philippine national park and protected area system date back to the American colonial era. The first national parks established were nature reserves in Bataan (Lamao), Laguna (Caliraya), Negros Occidental (La Carlota), Zamboanga, Pampanga (Mount Arayat) and Isabela. Forests were soon included, starting with Mount Makiling. The first formal national park is Mount Arayat National Park in Pampanga, founded in 1932. Further areas were added since the postwar era, and the present system have been outlined in the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act in 1992.

Under NIPAS, protected areas in the Philippines are categorized as: national parks, protected areas, natural monuments, protected landscapes, protected landscapes and seascapes, protected seascapes, game refuges and bird sanctuaries, resource reserves, managed resource protected areas, marine reserves, watershed forest reserves, natural biotic areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and wilderness areas. Our guide rather goes on a simpler approach, dividing things into national parks and protected landscapes, i.e. all those not categorized as national parks.

There are 94 designated national parks in the Philippines, the latest additions being in Cagayan Valley. A shaded background indicates a park designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Name	Location	Image	Area	Established
15.666667121.3333331 Aurora Memorial National Park	Aurora and Nueva Ecija		5,676 ha (14,030 acres)
17.45121.12 Balbasang-Balbalan National Park	Kalinga		1,338 ha (3,310 acres)
Bangan Hill National Park	Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya		13.90 ha (34.3 acres)
14.683333120.4166673 Bataan National Park	Bataan		23,688 ha (58,530 acres)	1945
15.1201121.0844 Biak-na-bato National Park	San Miguel, Bulacan		854 ha (2,110 acres)
Caramoan National Park	Caramoan, Camarines Sur		347 ha (860 acres)
Cassamata Hill National Park	Abra		67 ha (170 acres)	1972
Fuyot Springs National Park	Ilagan, Isabela		819 ha (2,020 acres)	1938
16.2120.0333335 Hundred Islands National Park	Alaminos, Pangasinan		1,676 ha (4,140 acres)	1940
Libmanan Caves National Park	Libmanan, Camarines Sur		19.40 ha (47.9 acres)	1934
14.581667120.9766946 Luneta National Park	Ermita, Manila		58 ha (140 acres)	1955
Minalungao National Park	General Tinio, Nueva Ecija		2,018 ha (4,990 acres)	1967
Mount Arayat National Park	Arayat, Pampanga		3,715 ha (9,180 acres)	1930
Mount Data National Park	Benguet and Mountain Province		5,512 ha (13,620 acres)
Mount Iglit-Baco National Park	Baco, Mindoro		5,676 ha (14,030 acres)
16.583572120.8835927 Mount Pulag National Park	Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya		11,150 ha (27,600 acres)
Naujan Lake National Park	Naujan, Mindoro		21,655 ha (53,510 acres)
Northern Luzon Heroes Hill National Park	Ilocos Sur		5,676 ha (14,030 acres)	1963
Olongapo Naval Base Perimeter National Park	Olongapo, Zambales		9 ha (22 acres)
Pagsanjan Gorge National Park	Pagsanjan, Laguna		153 ha (380 acres)
Paoay Lake National Park	Paoay, Ilocos Norte		340 ha (840 acres)
14.651389121.0491678 Quezon Memorial Circle National Park	Quezon City		23 ha (57 acres)	1975

Our list of protected areas include all the other types of nature reserves under NIPAS, from natural parks to wilderness areas.

There are 25 natural parks as of 2010, the last addition being Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.

There are 4 designated natural monuments, which are mostly small features which are protected for their special character.

• 16.9562120.6529 Bessang Pass (693 ha (1,710 acres)) — Ilocos Sur
• 9.916667124.16666710 Chocolate Hills (14,145 ha (34,950 acres)) — Bohol