Map of the Romblon showing the location of Sibuyan island. |
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Sibuyan Island (Philippines)
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| Geography | |
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| Location | South East Asia |
| Archipelago | Romblon |
| Major islands | Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Panay, Samar |
| Area | 445 km2 (171.8 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 2,058 m (6,752 ft) |
| Highest point | Guiting-Guiting |
| Country | |
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Philippines
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| Municipalities | Cajidiocan, Magdiwang, San Fernando |
| Largest city | San Fernando (pop. 21,214) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 52,615 (as of 2000) |
| Density | 118.2 /km2 (306.1 /sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Sibuyanon (Romblomanon) |
Sibuyan /siːbuˈjɑːn/ is a crescent-shaped island of Romblon Province, Philippines. It has an area of 445 km². The island has two prominent peaks, Mount Guiting-Guiting with a height of 2,058 m and Mount Nailog with a height of 789 m. It has been dubbed by some local and international natural scientists as "the Galapagos of Asia". The people speak the Sibuyanon dialect of Romblomanon, a Visayan language.
Sibuyan has lived in isolation from the rest of the world since its birth. Never in its geological history has it ever been connected with any part of the Philippine archipelago. Seismic forces pushed up a 2,000-meter peak from the earth’s crust, forming a series of smaller peaks and slopes. The peak is Mt. Guiting-guiting (literally means "the saw-toothed mountain", in reference to its jagged ridge). Because of the steep slopes, much of its original forest remains untouched, and the rest is the island as we find it today. On June 21, 2008, a ferry named MV Princess of the Stars shipwrecked off the coast of San Fernando resulting in the deaths of of hundreds of people.
Primary forests cover 140 square kilometres, which is 33% of the land area of Sibuyan. However, most of the lower altitude forest has been logged or is secondary. Mt. Guiting-guiting Natural Park (equivalent to the IUCN category of National Park) was established to protect these forests, which are mainly in the centre and north of the island, and covers an area of 157 km² out of Sibuyan’s total area of 445 km². The park is remarkable for its outstandingly scenic landscape with twin towering peaks set amidst closed canopy forests. Its forests remain largely intact, and include the entire elevational gradient from lowland dipterocarp forest (at 200 to 900 m) and mangroves, through montane forest (above 700 m) to mossy forest, heathland and montane grassland around the peaks.
Sibuyan has a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna which are threatened by an emerging aggressive promotion of mining industry by the country government. Exact figures on numbers of total plant species are hard to give, as biologists stumble upon species yet unidentified by the scientific community. In one study, the National Museum identified 1,551 trees in a single hectare, with 123 species of trees, and of this number, 54 are found nowhere else in the world. Hence, it has been proclaimed as one of the world’s most diverse and dense forest.[1] There are estimated to be 700 vascular plant species on the island. Nepenthes sibuyanensis, a pitcher plant species, is also endemic as its scientific name suggests. There are 131 species of birds and ten species of fruit bats, and many dwelling mammals, reptiles, and rodents yet to be fully catalogued. Three subspecies are endemic to Sibuyan: Colasisi Loriculus philippensis bournsi, the Philippine Pygmy-woodpecker Dendrocopos maculatus menagei, and the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum trigonostigma sibuyanicum, all of which were recorded there in the early 1990s. Five species of threatened mammals, one fruit bat and four rodents, are endemic to Sibuyan, and the critically endangered fruit bat Nyctimene rabori occurs there.
The Sibuyanons Against Mining advocacy group, with the Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for Environment Inc. (Sibuyan ISLE),[2] has been fighting for the conservation and protection of the island against mining activities considering its vast impact on the ecology, culture and society of the island.