The Mabini Protected Landscape and Seascape, in Davao de Oro, Philippines, is a terrestrial and marine

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

established in 2000 to protect ecologically significant habitats in Davao Gulf. The park extends along the coast of the municipality of Mabini from the mouth of the Pandasan River to the southern tip of Kopiat Island. It also includes Lunod Island, also known as Pandasan Island, which was earlier declared a ''wilderness area'' in 1981. It covers of extensive mangrove forests, white sand beaches and rich coral reef systems.

Geography

The Mabini protected area is situated in the coastal villages of Cuambog, San Antonio, Pindasan, Cadunan and Tagnanan in the northeastern side of Davao Gulf, some 80 kilometers east of the regional capital

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

. Its coast is characterized as generally flat and covered by San Miguel silty clay loam. It is lined by a good stand of mangrove forest, particularly along the shores of San Antonio and Pindasan. It is crossed by 9 rivers and creeks which drain into Davao Gulf, including the Lapinigan, Tagbalawlaw and Pindasan rivers. The park also includes two small islands in Davao Gulf: the Kopiat Island and the Lunod Island. The islands contain stretches of white sand beaches with coconut and mangrove areas. In Kopiat Island, a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

can be found. The waters surrounding the islands are known as a coral diversity hotspot hosting 46 of the 72 known genera of ''

Scleractina Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

'' found in the Philippines. Visitor facilities are provided at Kopiat Island, including resorts and cottages with comfort rooms and dressing rooms.

Biodiversity

The Mabini portion of Davao Gulf is a feeding ground to 11 species of

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

s such as

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...

killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pa ...

s and

bottle-nosed dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common ...

s. It also supports 5 marine turtle species including

hawksbill turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

s and

leatherback turtle The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...

s which lay their eggs on Kopiat Island. Mangrove forests cover of the park, dominated by the ''

Rhizophora apiculata Rhizophora apiculata (''R. apiculata'') belongs to the Plantae kingdom under the Rhizophoraceae family. Currently ''R. apiculata'' is distributed throughout Australia (Queensland and Northern Territory), Guam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Micrones ...

'' variety. It provides habitat to the following bird species: *

Olive-backed sunbird The olive-backed sunbird (''Cinnyris jugularis''), also known as the yellow-bellied sunbird, is a species of sunbird found from Southern Asia to Australia. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description ...

* Little tern *

Gray wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to ...

* Little slaty flycatcher *

Coleto The coleto (''Sarcops calvus'') is a starling species (family Sturnidae) in the monotypic genus ''Sarcops''. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland for ...

* Philippine glossy starling *

White-collared kingfisher The collared kingfisher (''Todiramphus chloris'') is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It is also known as the white-collared kingfisher, black-masked kingfisher or mangrove kingfisher. It has ...

River kingfisher The river kingfishers or pygmy kingfishers, subfamily Alcedininae, are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers. The river kingfishers are widespread through Africa and east and south Asia as far as Australia, with one species, the common ki ...

Yellow-vented bulbul The yellow-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus goiavier''), or eastern yellow-vented bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in southeastern Asia from Indochina to the Philippines. It is found in a wide vari ...

* Brown shrike * Little mangrove heron *

Zebra dove The zebra dove (''Geopelia striata''), also known as the barred ground dove, or barred dove, is a species of bird of the dove family, Columbidae, native to Southeast Asia. They are small birds with a long tail, predominantly brownish-grey in col ...

Pink-necked green pigeon The pink-necked green pigeon (''Treron vernans'') is a species of bird of the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It is a common species of Southeast Asia, found from Myanmar and Vietnam south through to the major islands of Indonesia and the Ph ...

Pygmy swiftlet The pygmy swiftlet (''Collocalia troglodytes'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an area of land dominated by ...

White-rumped swift The white-rumped swift (''Apus caffer'') is a species of swift. Although this small bird is superficially similar to a house martin, it is not closely related to that passerine species. The resemblances between the swallows and swifts are due to ...

Philippine spine-tailed swift The Philippine spinetail (''Mearnsia picina''), also known as the Philippine needletail or Philippine spine-tailed swift, is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Mindanao and Visaya ...

Ashy minivet The ashy minivet (''Pericrocotus divaricatus'') is a passerine bird of eastern Asia belonging to the minivet genus ''Pericrocotus'' in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. While most of the minivets have shades of yellow, orange and red in their ...

Wandering whistling-duck The wandering whistling duck (''Dendrocygna arcuata'') is a species of whistling duck. They inhabit tropical and subtropical Australia, the Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. Taxonomy There are three subspe ...

Tree sparrow The Eurasian tree sparrow (''Passer montanus'') is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, and young birds are a duller version o ...

Olive-capped flowerpecker The olive-capped flowerpecker (''Dicaeum nigrilore'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is endemic to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.Its natural habitat is tropical moist montane forest. Description and Taxonomy EBird ...

References

{{Protected areas in the Davao Region Protected landscapes and seascapes of the Philippines Geography of Davao de Oro Protected areas established in 2000 2000 establishments in the Philippines