World Heritage Identification Number: 652
World Heritage since: 1999
Category: Natural Heritage
WHE Type: Protected Areas & National Parks
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇵🇭 Philippines
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Asia and the Pacific
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Exploring the Underground Wonders of Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park
The Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park, located in the island province of Palawan in the Philippines, offers a unique blend of natural beauty and geological wonders. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, this park showcases a remarkable limestone karst landscape, featuring an underground river that stands out for its distinctive characteristics.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
This park features a spectacular limestone karst landscape with an underground river. One of the river's distinguishing features is that it emerges directly into the sea, and its lower portion is subject to tidal influences. The area also represents a significant habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full 'mountain-to-sea' ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (vii): The Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park features a spectacular limestone or karst landscape. It contains an underground river that flows directly to the sea. The lower half of the river is brackish and subject to ocean tide. The associated tidal influence on the river makes this a significant natural phenomenon. The river’s cavern exhibits dramatic speleothems and several large chambers of as much as 120m wide and 60m high. Its accessibility and navigability up to 4.5km inland allows it to be experienced by the general public, who can view the magnificent rock formations on a river cruise unequalled by any other similar experience elsewhere in the world.
Criterion (x): The property contains globally significant habitat for biodiversity conservation. It includes a full mountain-to-sea ecosystem, protecting the most significant forest area within the Palawan Biogeographic Province. There are eight intact forest formations: forest on ultramafic soil, forest on limestone soil, montane forest, freshwater swamp forest, lowland evergreen tropical rainforest, riverine forest, beach forest, and mangrove forest, included in the property. It contains outstanding biodiversity with the Palawan Moist Forest recognized by the WWF’s Global Report as containing the richest tree flora, with high levels of regional and local endemism and as being the largest and most valuable limestone forest in Asia.
Encyclopedia Record: Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area in the Philippines.Additional Site Details
Area: 22,202 hectares
Number of Components: 1
(x) — Contains most important habitats for biodiversity
Coordinates: 10.16666667 , 118.9166667
IUCN World Heritage Outlook
The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park reports the following assessment:
Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment
Image
© Mike Gonzalez, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
