THE Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) in Pampanga celebrated the first year anniversary of the declaration of the Sasmuan Pampanga Coastal Wetlands (SPCW) as a Ramsar Site on February 2, 2022.

The celebration was marked by the unveiling of the Ramsar Site Marker led by Penro officer Laudemir S. Salac at the Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (SBMCHEA) to solidify its status as an important wetland here in Sasmuan.

"The development and protection of the SPCW will not stop until it becomes a widely known eco-tourism spot in the Philippines," Salac said.

Also present in the event was Chief of the Local Government of Sasmuan, Mayor Nardo Velasco, who gave his sincerest appreciation to the DENR for such development in Sasmuan.

The SPCW, with an area of over 3,667 hectares, was recognized on February 2, 2021, as a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention.

Within this wetland is the 405-hectare Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.

SPCW is the 8th Ramsar site in the Philippines and the first in Central Luzon and Pampanga.

Hailed as a “Wetland of International Importance,” the SPCW homes ecosystems like mudflats, mangroves and riverine habitats that serve as important stopover points for migratory waterbirds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

Several unique wildlife such as the endangered Nordmann’s or spotted greenshank, Black-faced spoonbill, Far Eastern curlew, and the endemic Philippine duck can be sighted here.

The wetland also supports different flora such as the vulnerable Avicennia officinalis, locally known as Api-api, and the Sonneratia alba, which provides shelter to different marine species of the area.