Did you know that the Philippines is a heaven for the sea turtle, or “pawikan?”Out of the seven species of sea turtle, the Philippines is home to five of these heroes in a half-shell.
The pawikan has been around for 200 million years, but to this day very little is known about it. After it is born it leaves and spends most of it’s life traveling the seas. The female pawikan can’t seem to let go of her hometown. Every two years, she returns to the exact same beach where it was born to lay hundreds of eggs. We can therefore claim hundreds of pawikans as “Philippines citizens.”
During pawikans life time, scientists only have two opportunities to it: when it is born, and when it comes ashore to lay it’s eggs. This makes the Philippines incredibly important to worldwide efforts to protect this creature. Aside from being a nesting site for hundreds of turtles, our islands also lie along the migratory routes of various species of sea turtles from the Asia Pacific region.
Recently, the Turtle Islands Heritage Park (TIHPA), was formed out of nine islands in the Sulu-Subah area. These areas have been declared sanctuaries for sea turtles by law, to be jointly manage by the Philippines and Malaysia governments. Manu wildfire NGOS, such as WWF Philippines, use this islands as a home station to study these mysterious creatures that have been around since the time of the dinosaur.
