Sibuyan Island - Biodiversity

Biodiversity

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. 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.