Geography | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 12°18′4″N119°53′56″E / 12.30111°N 119.89889°E |
Archipelago | Calamian Group of Islands |
Adjacent to | |
Administration | |
Region | Mimaropa |
Province | Palawan |
Municipality | Busuanga |
Calauit Island is an island of the Calamian Archipelago, just off the north-western coast of Busuanga Island. It is part of the municipality of Busuanga in the province of Palawan, Philippines. The entire island was declared as a wildlife sanctuary and game preserve in 1977, [1] now is a tourist attraction known as Calauit Safari Park.
The wild animals were imported from Africa in the 1970s. The imported animals include 20 giraffes, dozens of zebra and antelopes. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos forced the locals to move to Halsey Island and ordered to clear the bamboo forests to make the place similar to the savannahs of Kenya. An estimated 254 families, mostly from the indigenous Tagbanwa tribes, were evicted and relocated to the former leper colony of Halsey Island. [2] [3]
Today, the African animals continue to roam around the island and the number of animals is increasing. [4] The animals have been inbreeding for four generations and may die off from the lack of diversity in their gene pool. [2]
In the 1970s, several families, including those from the indigenous Tagbanwa peoples, were evicted from Calauit Island to make way for the wild animals imported from Africa. [2] A United Nations report on human and indigenous rights noted how Tagbanwa families suffered relocation under stress and duress after the Marcos decree turned their ancestral lands into a sanctuary for African animals. [5]
The families were resettled on barren land, where the families often went hungry. [6] For decades, the families struggled to return to what the Tagbanwa's consider their ancestral home. [5] Tagbanwa families would build homes, which would be demolished by Philippine soldiers. Soldiers also barricaded water sources and built fences to keep out the indigenous community. [6] In 2001, members of the Tagbanwa community were jailed for trying to resettle on the island. [7]
After Marcos was deposed in a peaceful revolution, the Balik Calauit Movement was organized to help families reclaim their ancestral land. The movement also helps the indigenous communities demand their human rights. [6]
Palawan, officially the Province of Palawan, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of 14,649.73 km2 (5,656.29 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Puerto Princesa wherein it is geographically grouped but administered independently from the province. Palawan is known as the Philippines' Last Frontier and as the Philippines' Best Island.
Busuanga, officially the Municipality of Busuanga, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,617 people.
Culion, officially the Municipality of Culion, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,213 people.
The Philippines is inhabited by more than 182 ethnolinguistic groups, many of which are classified as "Indigenous Peoples" under the country's Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997. Traditionally-Muslim peoples from the southernmost island group of Mindanao are usually categorized together as Moro peoples, whether they are classified as Indigenous peoples or not. About 142 are classified as non-Muslim Indigenous people groups, and about 19 ethnolinguistic groups are classified as neither Indigenous nor Moro. Various migrant groups have also had a significant presence throughout the country's history.
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals.
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous peoples in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad, the autonym officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986 at the Guadalupe Formation Center, Balindog, Kidapawan, Cotabato. Usage of the term was accepted in Philippine jurisprudence when President Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6734, where the word was used in Art. XIII sec. 8(2) to distinguish Lumad ethnic communities from the islands of Mindanao.
Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines, is home to several indigenous ethnolinguistic groups namely, the Kagayanen, Tagbanwa, Palawano, Taaw't Bato, Molbog, and Batak tribes. They live in remote villages in the mountains and coastal areas.
The Calamian Islands or the Calamianes is a group of islands in the province of Palawan, Philippines. It includes:
The Philippine crocodile, also known as the Mindoro crocodile, the Philippine freshwater crocodile, the bukarot in Ilocano, and more generally as a buwaya in most Filipino lowland cultures, is one of two species of crocodiles found in the Philippines; the other is the larger saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The Philippine crocodile, the species endemic only to the country, went from data deficient to critically endangered in 2008 from exploitation and unsustainable fishing methods, such as dynamite fishing. Conservation methods are being taken by the Dutch/Filipino Mabuwaya foundation, the Crocodile Conservation Society and the Zoological Institute of HerpaWorld in Mindoro island. It is strictly prohibited to kill a crocodile in the country, and it is punishable by law.
The Tagbanwa people are an indigenous peoples and one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Philippines, mainly found in central and northern Palawan. Research has shown that the Tagbanwa are possible descendants of the Tabon Man, thus making them one of the original inhabitants of the Philippines. They are a brown-skinned, slim, and straight-haired ethnic group.
The Palawan stink badger, pantot or tuldo in the Batak language, is a carnivoran of the western Philippines named for its resemblance to badgers, its powerful smell, and the largest island to which it is native, Palawan. Like all stink badgers, the Palawan stink badger was once thought to share a more recent common ancestor with badgers than with skunks. Recent genetic evidence, however, has led to their re-classification as one of the Mephitidae, the skunk family of mammals. It is the size of a large skunk or small badger, and uses its badger-like body to dig by night for invertebrates in open areas near patches of brush. While it lacks the whitish dorsal patches typical of its closest relatives, predators and hunters generally avoid the powerful noxious chemicals it can spray from the specialized anal glands characteristic of mephitids.
The indigenous peoples of the Philippines are ethnolinguistic groups or subgroups that maintain partial isolation or independence throughout the colonial era, and have retained much of their traditional pre-colonial culture and practices.
Souls in Filipino cultures abound and differ per ethnic group in the Philippines. The concept of souls include both the souls of the living and the souls or ghosts of the dead. The concepts of souls in the Philippines is a notable traditional understanding that traces its origin from the sacred indigenous Philippine folk religions.
The Palawan water monitor is a quite large species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is the agency of the national government of the Philippines that is responsible for protecting the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines. The commission is composed of seven commissioners. It is attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The Great Lakes Twa, also known as Batwa, Abatwa or Ge-Sera, are a Bantu speaking group native to the African Great Lakes region on the border of Central and East Africa. As an indigenous pygmy people, the Twa are generally assumed to be the oldest surviving population of the Great Lakes region. Current populations of Great Lakes Twa people live in the states of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2000 they numbered approximately 80,000 people, making them a significant minority group in these countries. The largest population of Twa is located in Burundi estimated in 2008 at 78,071 people.
The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA), officially designated as Republic Act No. 8371, is a Philippine law that recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities and Indigenous peoples in the Philippines.
Calauit Safari Park is a wildlife sanctuary in the Philippines which was originally created in 1976 as a game reserve featuring large African mammals, translocated there under the orders of President Ferdinand Marcos during his 21-year rule of the country.
The Sengwer people are an indigenous community who primarily live in the Embobut forest in the western highlands of Kenya and in scattered pockets across Trans Nzoia, West Pokot and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties. The Sengwer are sometimes portrayed as a component of the Marakwet people but are a distinct ethnic grouping with a distinct language.