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Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary

Wildlife reserve in Agusan del Sur, Philippines

Summary

Wildlife reserve in Agusan del Sur, Philippines

Field	Value
name	Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary
iucn_category	IV
map	Philippines#Mindanao mainland
relief	1
map_caption	Location in the Philippines##Location in Mindanao
map_width	220
location	Agusan del Sur, Philippines
nearest_city	Bislig
coordinates
area	14835.99 ha
established	October 31, 1996
governing_body	Department of Environment and Natural Resources
embedded	{{Designation list
embed	yes
designation1	Ramsar
designation1_date	November 12, 1999
designation1_number	1009}}

The Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Agusan del Sur, Philippines declared by President Fidel V. Ramos. The marshland acts like a sponge, as it is nestled in the midwaters of the Agusan River drainage basin. Within its lakes, several floating communities can be found. The sanctuary was home to the 20.24 ft saltwater crocodile Lolong, the world's largest captive crocodile.

It is located in the municipalities of Bunawan, La Paz, Loreto, Rosario, San Francisco, and Talacogon in the province of Agusan del Sur. The marsh was declared a Ramsar Site No. 1009 on November 12, 1999. It was also recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park (AHP) Site No. 42 on November 8, 2018. The site was also included in the tentative list of UNESCO on March 11, 2024, and is currently being evaluated.

Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a national park under Republic Act No. 11038 (Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018) signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in July 2018.

Description

Agusan Marsh is one of the most ecologically significant wetlands in the Philippines. Found in the heart of Mindanao's Agusan Basin, this vast expanse of marsh covers an area roughly the size of Metro Manila. It contains nearly 15% of the nation's freshwater resources in the form of swamp forests.

Agusan Marsh is also host to "Wonderland", where you can see natural "bonsai" trees crafted by nature. It can be reached from Barangay Caimpogan or from Barangay New Visayas in the municipality of San Francisco.

The tiny community of mostly ethnic Manobos have made their permanent homes deep within the marsh, living on floating homes. The small houses, made of bamboo and nipa lashed to hardwood logs, freely rise or fall with the level of the marsh itself. The marsh provides virtually everything the Manobos need.

Wildlife

During the rainy season, when the water rises to create large lakes, vast number of ducks come to Agusan Marsh to nest. In the dry months, thousands of birds come from as faraway as Japan, China and Russia to escape the chilly winter winds of Northern Asia. Over 200 individual species have been known to spend at least part of the year in the marsh, making it one of Asia's most important transit points for wild birds. The marsh has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of Philippine ducks, spotted imperial-pigeons, sarus cranes, purple herons, Pinsker's hawk-eagles, southern silvery and rufous-lored kingfishers, and celestial monarchs.

In the very heart of the marsh is a semi-permanent lake where many square kilometres of lily pads, hyacinths and other hydrophytic plants spread out like an enormous green quilt. In the dark tea-coloured waters live untold numbers of catfish, carp, soft-shell freshwater turtles, and crocodiles.

References

"Proclamation No. 913, s. 1996". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
"Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary".
Quismundo, Tarra. (August 2, 2010). "NGOs launch biodiversity study to save Agusan Marsh". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
"Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary". [[UNESCO]].
(7 July 2018). "Expanded Nipas law creates 94 more nat’l parks across PH". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
Gibbens, Sarah. (February 2, 2021). "The world's wetlands are slipping away. This vibrant sanctuary underscores the stakes.".
Tupas, Jeffrey M.. (August 29, 2010). "Enchanting adventure in Agusan Marsh". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
. (2024). ["Agusan marsh"](https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/agusan-marsh-iba-philippines). *BirdLife International*.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

marshes-of-the-philippines wildlife-sanctuaries-of-the-philippines important-bird-areas-of-the-philippines ramsar-sites-in-the-philippines landforms-of-agusan-del-sur protected-areas-established-in-1996 1996-establishments-in-the-philippines

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