Location: Mindoro Occidental
Area: 34 square kilometres
Apo Reef is a series of coral reefs covering an area of 34 square kilometers, in the Sulu Sea of Western Mindoro province, Philippines. It is the second largest coral reef system in the world and the largest in the Philippines. The reef and its surrounding waters are managed as a national park, while part of the reef belongs to the Apo Natural Park project.
Apo Reef can be found at a distance of 33 km west, off the mid-west coast of the Philippine island of Mindoro. Two separate coral reefs make up the island and reef system. The two coral reefs are separated by an area of water about 30 meters deep. Within the boundaries of coral reefs there are many ecological environments. Besides coral reefs, there are also seagrass, seaweed and mangrove forests present on and around coral reefs.
The waters of Apo Reef are protected within the
national park area of 274.69 km2 of the reef and its surrounding area.
Of the total area, 157.92 km 2 belongs to Apo Natural Park while the
remaining area of 116.77 km 2 forms a buffer zone around the national
park.
Politically, the reefs are located in the waters of the
province of Mindoro Occidental, in region IV-B of the Philippines. It is
directly administered by the local government of Sablayan municipality.
Initially, Apo Reef was first officially declared a "marine park"
under Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos in 1980. This was followed
by the local government of Sablayan declaring the reefs called a
"Tourism Area and Marine Protected Area" three years later. In 1996, the
entire coral reef was declared a natural park by President Fidel Ramos.
In 2006, the Department of Wildlife and Protected Areas under the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment submitted to the UNESCO
World Heritage Center to consider recognizing the coral reef as a world
heritage site.
Following a local survey by the World Wide Fund
for Nature, fishing at the reef was banned by the Philippine government
in September 2007. The marine park will be opened to tourists to
generate business. The fees help protect the reef as well as provide an
alternative job for hundreds of fishermen in the area.
Located on the southeastern edge of the South China Sea, it is only
2½ hours by boat from the diving island of Pandan Island on the west
coast of Mindoro (15 nautical miles), 6-8 hours from Puerto Galera on
the northeast coast of Mindoro and 4-6 hours from the island's capital
Coron on Busuanga / Palawan (21 nautical miles measured from the
northeasternmost point of the island). The eponymous island of Apo
should not be confused with the Apo Island of the same name near Negros.
The Mindoro Strait is an important maritime route for domestic and
international shipping routes to China, Korea and Japan. To avoid
running aground in the shallows, there is a large lighthouse on it
(coordinates: ♁12° 40′ N, 120° 25′ E). Its radio beacon is also an
important landmark for air traffic.
The reef was plundered with dynamite and later cyanide fishing well into the 1990s. Large areas have not yet recovered from this. With the presidential decree of September 6, 1996, Apo Reef became part of the Apo Reef Marine Natural Park. Eight park rangers are permanently stationed on Apo Island to enforce the total ban on fishing.
The reef is world famous among divers and snorkelers; in the region only the Tubbataha Reef and the reef system around the Cagayan Archipelago, both in the Sulu Sea, are comparable.