• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (2001 baseline)
The El Nido IBA is at the northern tip of Palawan. It is included within the El Nido Marine Reserve, which covers 95,000 ha, much of which is marine but also includes a substantial area of land. Some extensive areas of old growth forest are shown on the low hills there on recent forest cover maps. There are reported to be extensive areas of forest on limestone (ironwood) and beach forest there.

Key biodiversity
Several of the threatened and restricted-range species of the Palawan Endemic Bird Area have been recorded in the El Nido area in the past, including the threatened Palawan Peacock-pheasant and Palawan Hornbill. The extensive lowland forests there are likely to prove to support substantial populations of many of these birds, and probably also some of the other threatened and restricted-range species of Palawan.

Non-bird biodiversity: The mammals and herpetofauna of this IBA are apparently unknown, but it is likely to support threatened endemic taxa. A diverse marine fauna occurs off the IBA, including threatened species such as green turtle Chelonia mydas, hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata, olive ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea, finless porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides and bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: El Nido (Philippines). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/el-nido-iba-philippines on 22/12/2024.