Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems. The biosphere reserve title is handed over by UNESCO. Each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. Biosphere reserves are 'Science for Sustainability support sites' – special places for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity. Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Their status is internationally recognized.
History
Early activities (1977–2000) In 1977, the Puerto Galera Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. During that time, countries who have yet to ratify the UNESCO Convention were allowed to nominate sites in the biosphere reserve network. However, UNESCO participation of the Philippines was extremely limited due to the brutal Marcos dictatorship.
The Philippines ratified the UNESCO Convention on September 19, 1985, effectively becoming a member of the organization on the same date. However, activities concerning UNESCO nominations were only made after the successful People Power Revolution of 1986, which restored democracy in the Southeast Asian nation. UNESCO activities and preparations came afterwards under the support of President Corazon Aquino and notably through staunch heritage conservationist and architect, Augusto Villalón, who UNESCO hails as "one of Asia’s most renowned experts in heritage conservation" and "the father of heritage conservation in the Philippines". In 1990, the Aquino administration partnered with UNESCO for the International Literacy Year programme. On the same year, the Palawan Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In 1991, the Philippines under President Corazon Aquino won a mandate to the World Heritage Committee, serving until 1997, the first time the Philippines had a role in the powerful UNESCO committee.
From 1993 to 1999, five UNESCO sites, spanning nine locations, were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List through the initiative of the Philippine government and Villalón's Heritage Conservation Society. These sites included the Baroque Churches of the Philippines (1993), Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (1993), Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (1995), Historic City of Vigan (1999), and the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park (1999). In 1994, the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as a Ramsar wetland site under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO. In 1995, the Philippines hosted UNESCO's "Regional Thematic Study Meeting on Asian Rice Culture and its Terraced Landscape" in the capital, Manila. In 1997, the Philippines participated in the "Asia-Pacific World Heritage Youth Forum" held in China and the "Asia-Pacific Heritage Site Managers' Workshop" held in Thailand. Villalón afterwards retired from the UNESCO Commission in 1999. The National Museum nominated the Philippine Paleographs (Hanunoo, Build, Tagbanua and Pala'wan) in 1999 to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and was inscribed on the same year, becoming the first international documentary heritage coming from the Philippines. Additionally, three sites, namely, Naujan Lake National Park, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, and Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, were declared as Ramsar wetland sites under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO.
Pre-Heritage Act decade (2001–2010)
In 2001, the Heritage Conservation Society started its appeal to the officials of Batanes to establish conservation programs for a possible UNESCO inscription as the Batanes Protected landscapes and seascapes has been a UNESCO tentative site in 1993. On the same year, the Hudhud chant of the Ifugao was declared as one of the Eleven Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. However, UNESCO also enlisted the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras in the List of Sites in Danger, prompting local officials to initiate a province-wide conservation program for the terraces. Before the year ended, the Nelson Tower was named as an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.
In 2003, Radio Veritas Asia, Raja Broadcasting Network, and Punzalan Personal Archives nominated the Radio Broadcast of the Philippine People Power Revolution in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The nomination was inscribed on the same year. Additionally, the Gota de Leche Building was named as an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.
Additionally, the country nominated Batanes to the world heritage list, but it was deferred by UNESCO due to lack of conservation. The site officially was put in deferred status in 2005. In 2005, the Darangen epic chant of the Maranao was declared as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. On the same year, the Far Eastern University was named as an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.
In December 2005, the Philippines participated in the UNESCO Regional Workshop on Periodic Reporting Follow-up for North-East and South-East Asia, held in Malaysia. The country also participated in the Seeing with Young Eyes – Teacher Training Workshop of UNESCO in 2006, which was also conducted in Vigan in 2001. In August 2007, the "Living Landscapes and Cultural Landmarks: World Heritage Sites in the Philippines" was launched by Villalón. On the same year, the Batanes nomination was put in "referred status", pending for the dossier to be submitted by the local Ivatan authorities.
In 2007, the U.P. Center for Ethnomusicology nominated the José Maceda Collection to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The documentary heritage was inscribed on the same year. In 2008, the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists were established; both the Hudhud chant of the Ifugao and the Darangen epic chant of the Maranao were inscribed on the same year.
Middle of 2008, all the documents were ready except for the Batanes dossier. UNESCO set early 2010 as the deadline for the dossier for site inscription, however, the local officials of Batanes failed to make a dossier, and thus, the site was officially taken out from referred status. Due to this, the nomination reverted to zero. This failure led the Heritage Conservation Society to focus on the nomination of Davao Oriental's Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. In September 2008, the Philippines participated in the "Workshop for the World Heritage property of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha" held in Nepal. In 2009, the boundaries of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park was expanded.
In April 2010, the Philippines participated in the "Sub-regional Workshop on the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in Asia and the Pacific" held in China. In late 2010, conservationists from the Heritage Conservation Society went to Batanes again to initiate a second nomination attempt. The organization found that non-traditional concrete structures were being established by locals in various sections of the islands, effectively diminishing the site's cultural value. The society appealed to the local government to stop the non-traditional buildings, but the local government retaliated against the conservationists. A report noted that traditional Ivatan houses were being converted into hollow block houses for the benefit of local politicians. In 2011, the government of Batanes formally nominated their province in UNESCO, but failed due to lack of cultural protections, lack of a holistic dossier, and the establishment of non-traditional buildings which have been approved by the provincial and municipal governments of Batanes at the time. Prompted by failures of past officials, the local governments of Batanes afterwards converged and declared a province-wide cultural and natural conservation program. The National Museum of the Philippines initiated the establishment of a branch museum in the province to preserve Ivatan heritage. The Heritage Conservation Society and National Commission for Culture and the Arts aided the conservation programs led by the Ivatan officials. The Philippine government has stated that once all conservation programs are deemed successful and fulfilled, the Philippines will again nominate Batanes to the UNESCO world heritage list.
Heritage Act enacted (2010–2016)
On April 10, 2010, the National Cultural Heritage Act (Republic Act No. 10066) formally came into effect. The law created the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property and took other steps to conserve, preserve, and restore Filipino cultural properties. In October 2011, two typhoons severely damaged the UNESCO-inscribed Rice Terraces in Ifugao, prompting a massive rehabilitation program. In 2011, the University of Michigan Library in partnership with the Philippine government nominated the Presidential Papers of Manuel L. Quezon. They were added to the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register.
In mid-2011, the Philippines participated in the UNITAR Series on the Management and Conservation of World Heritage Sites with a theme of "Preparing World Heritage Nominations: Continuity and Change within UNESCO's New Manual". The country was represented by the Heritage Conservation Society, the Batanes government, and the National Museum of the Philippines. Three factors were cited for the lack of world heritage declarations in the Philippines, namely, (1) the lack of awareness about UNESCO World Heritage among local stakeholders, especially the indigenous communities, local governments and residents that live around these potential sites, (2) the absence of competent people who are fully aware of the processes involved in preparing and providing the correct documents for nomination as World Heritage, and (3) the lack of government funding to prepare and support these nominations, among many others. It was also noted that describing a nominated property as "unique" is the worst argument one could give for UNESCO nomination as all sites are not unique and there are always similar properties it can be compared with. The Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) based on at least one of the ten criteria should be clearly established as well, according to UNESCO. According to UNESCO, the most important part of the nomination is the comparative analysis of the site as extensive comparison with other similar properties is vital to prove OUV and push nomination forward. Due to this, the Filipino delegations acknowledged the need to rewrite the dossier for Batanes, as it had been rejected before due to lacking information for an actual nomination to be accepted by UNESCO. Due to these findings, the Philippine government would later establish three legs for the UNESCO Pamana (Heritage) Workshop from 2016 to 2017 for the tentative sites and possible tentative sites of the country.