Babuyan Islands

Geography

The archipelago, comprising 24 volcanic-coralline islands, has a total area of about 590 km2. The largest of these is Calayan with an area of 196 km2, while the highest peak in the island group is Mount Pangasun (1108 m) on Babuyan Claro.

Islands

The table below shows the islands of Babuyan and their adjoining islets and rocks, along with land areas and highest elevation:

Geology

The eastern islands of the archipelago are part of the Luzon Volcanic Arc. Three volcanoes from two of the islands have erupted in historical times - Camiguin de Babuyanes on Camiguin Island, Babuyan Claro Volcano and Smith Volcano (also known as Mount Babuyan) on Babuyan Island.

Another small volcanic island located just 22 km NE of Camiguin Island, Didicas Volcano on Didicas Island, became a permanent island only after emerging and rising to over 200. m above sea level in 1952.

Flora and fauna

All of the islands within the island group are classified by the Haribon Foundation and BirdLife International as key biodiversity areas, or sites with outstanding universal value due to their geographic and biological importance. All of the islands within the island group have never been part of any large landmass, and thus have unique flora and fauna, most of which are found nowhere else. Research conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has found at least five faunal regions in the area, one of the highest densities of separate faunal regions in the world.

The islands are also home to the most critically endangered snake species in the Philippines, the Ross' wolf snake (found only on the small island of Dalupiri), and the most critically endangered bird species in the Philippines, the Calayan rail (found only on the small island of Calayan). The Babuyan archipelago, along with the nearby Batanes islands, have been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support significant populations of resident Taiwan green pigeons, Ryukyu scops-owls and short-crested monarchs, Chinese egrets on passage, and wintering yellow buntings.

The island group is also one of the few congregation sites for endangered humpback whales in Southeast Asia. Due to its value to the natural world and Philippine biological diversity, various scientific and conservation groups have been lobbying for its declaration as a national park and its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Humpback whales have re-colonized the area and the Babuyan Group of Islands has become the only wintering ground for the species in the Philippines although historical records from the Babuyan Islands have not been confirmed.

Demographics

List of islands by population (as of 2020):

1. Calayan Island - 9,648
2. Camiguin Island - 5,231
3. Fuga Island - 1,939
4. Babuyan Island - 1,910
5. Dalupiri Island - 621
6. Barit Island - 14

Government

The whole archipelago is administered under the province of Cagayan, with Babuyan, Calayan, Camiguin, and Dalupiri comprising the municipality of Calayan while Fuga is under the jurisdiction of Aparri.

Babuyan and Dalupiri are themselves individual barangays in Calayan municipality, respectively named Babuyan Claro and Dalupiri, while Fuga Island is also an individual barangay, also named Fuga Island, in Aparri.

References

References

1. "Babuyan Islands - island group, Philippines". Encyclopedia Britannica.
2. "Biodiversity and conservation priority setting in the Babuyan Islands, Philippines". The Technical Journal of Philippine Ecosystems and Natural Resources.
3. U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1919). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0clBAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA41 "United States Coast Pilot, Philippine Islands, Part 1"], pp. 41–44. Government Printing Office, Washington
4. [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0704-01= "Camiguin de Babuyanes"]. [[Global Volcanism Program]]. Retrieved on 2013-04-01.
5. [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0704-03= "Babuyan Claro"]. Global Volcanism Program. Retrieved on 2013-04-01.
6. [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0704-02= "Didicas"]. Global Volcanism Program. Retrieved on 2013-04-01.
7. "From 7,107 to 7,641".
8. . (2024). ["Batanes Islands"](https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/batanes-islands-iba-philippines). *BirdLife International*.
9. The BALYENA.ORG. [http://balyena.org.ph/research/humpbacks humpback whale research in the babuyan islands – research, education and conservation] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-03-23 . Retrieved on December 25. 2014)
10. The Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment. [http://www.conservationforpeople.org/humpback-whales-phillipines/ Humpback Whales – Philippines – Babuyan Islands humpback whales project] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-12-25 . Retrieved on December 25, 2014)
11. Acebes V.M.J., 2009, [http://www.murdoch.edu.au/Research-capabilities/Asia-Research-Centre/_document/working-papers/wp161.pdf A history of Whaling in Philippines] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-12-24 , Historical Perspectives of Fisheries Exploitation in the Indo-Pacific, Asia Research Centre, [[Murdoch University]])
12. [http://www.cagayan.gov.ph/index.php/about-cagayan-home/10-city-and-towns/41-calayan "Calayan"] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-07-12 . Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cagayan. Retrieved on 2013-04-01.)
13. [http://www.cagayan.gov.ph/index.php/about-cagayan-home/10-city-and-towns/37-aparri "Aparri"] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-05 . Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cagayan. Retrieved on 2013-04-01.)