Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary

Facts & Figures of Agusan Marsh Wild Life Sanctuary Location

Area Buffer Zone Maximum Depth Altitude Legal Basis Conservation Status

Covered Municipalities Major Marsh Settlements Climatic Condition Main Outlet Major River Catchment

Annual Flooding Cycle Wetland Habitat Types

Fishes Birds Butterflies Reptiles Amphibians

: Lies between 125°52’ and 126°02” longitude and 8°07 and 8°19 latitude, Agusan del Sur, northeastern Mindanao : 14,835 hectares : 4,360 hectares : 4 meters

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Agusan Marsh

Wildlife sanctuary considered as the largest and the last stronghold wetland in the Philippines.

: 55 m. asl. : Proclamation No. 913 dated October 31, 1996 : Extremely High critical (EHc) per results of the National Biodiversity Conservation Priority Setting Project undertaken by PAWB-DENR jointly with Conservation International and UP-CIDS : 4 municipalities: Bunawan, Loreto, La Paz, and Veruela Mabalili and San Marcos in municipality of Bunawan : Type IV Climate : Agusan River : Adgaoan, 93,704 ha; Umayan, 88,813 ha; Biga, 45,154 ha; Baolo, 26,976 ha; AoAo, 29,314 ha; Agusan, 166,204 ha; Simulao, 99,778 ha; Sulibao, 27,993 ha; and Gibong, 83,760 ha. : Between October and February : Open water (oxbow lakes, floodplain lakes and ponds); Flowing water; Herbaceous swamp; Scrub swamp; Swamp forest; River bank; Inundated forest. : Twenty six (26) species belonging to Sixteen (16) families [Hubilla-Travis, et.al, 2008] : Nineteen (19) species : Sixty-five (65) species : Two (2) crocodile species; 22 lizards species and seven (7) snake species : Fourteen (14) amphibian species

PURPLE HERON Ardea purpurea CATTLE EGRET Bubulcus ibis cormandus

DENR Regional Office XIII

Brgy. Ambago, Butuan City, 8600 Website: http://caraga.denr.gov.ph/ E-mail: denrcaraga@yahoo.com or pmd.misss@gmail.com

Regional Public Affairs Office

Tel. No.: 341-32-29 Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary ♥ August 2015 http://issuu.com/cdo-caraga

DENR-CARAGA

Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary

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AQUATIC FAUNA IN AGUSAN MARSH

gusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary is an important area for conservation of biological diversity being identified as Extremely High critical (EHc) per results of the National Biodiversity Conservation Priority Setting Project undertaken by PAWB-DENR jointly with Conservation International and UP-CIDS.

Twenty six (26) fish species belonging to sixteen (16) families are found in Agusan Marsh (Hubilla-Travis, et.al 2008). The native fishes are likely to consist only of Puntius sp., Channa striata, Clarias macrophalus, Anabas testudineus, Glossogobius giurus, Megalops cyprinoids, and Mugil sp.

The marsh is the floodplain of Agusan River where nine (9) major rivers drain in it and acts as the storage of rain waters and reduces the immediate downstream flow of flood water into Butuan City and nearby population centers.

CLIMBING PERCH Anabas testudinueus

SPOTTED BARB Puntius binotatus

BIRDS IN AGUSAN MARSH Agusan Marsh is the home of some 127 birds which belongs to 47 families according to Haribon Foundation in February 1999 survey.

LITTLE SPIDERHUNTER Arachnothera longirostra flammifera

PHILIPPINE SWAMPHEN (Porphyrio pulverulentus)

SNAKEHEAD MURREL / MUDFISH Channa striata

EMERALD DOVE Chalcophaps indica

WHITE GOBY Glossogobuis guiris

INDO-PACIFIC TARPON Megalops cyprinoides

Ecological significance of the Agusan Marsh:  Serves as the catch basin of Agusan-Davao Plain in Eastern Mindanao where nine major rivers

drain in.  Plays as a vital role in the socio-economic development of the provinces of Agusan del Norte

and Agusan del Sur.  Ecologically significant wetland ecosystem in the Philippines with seven habitat types harboring

a unique assemblage of flora and fauna.  Holds the largest expanses of marsh left in the Philippines, which represents wetland habitat

types and contains a very large area of habitat type (the swamp forest) and a peat swamp forest not found anywhere else in the Philippines.  Home of the largest known remaining populations of Crocodylus porosus and possibly of Crocodylus mindorensis in the country.

Lolong, a 6.4 meters (21-foot) crocodile is the world’s biggest saltwater crocodile caught at Agusan Marsh, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur on September 2011 but died on February 10, 2013.

INDO-PACIFIC / SALTWATER

CROCODILE Crocodylus porosus