The Las Piñas Parañaque Wetland Park (LPPWP) is a legislated protected area encompassing 181 hectares of mangroves, mixed beach forests, ponds, lagoons, and mudflats located in southern Metro Manila. In 2018, the LPPWP was declared a National Protected Area under the Philippines’ Republic Act No. 11038 or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Act. The LPPWP has been recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention since 2013 and continues to function as a critical habitat for a diverse array of flora and fauna while also providing a wide range of ecosystem services to urban communities.
On 22-23 April 2023, the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands Inc. (SCPW) and the LPPWP Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) conducted a biodiversity assessment and monitoring of the LPPWP. The two-day fieldwork involved assessments of vegetation cover and composition, surveys of vertebrate and invertebrate fauna, phytoplankton samples collection, and water quality monitoring. The primary data gathered during this activity and their subsequent analyses and synthesis will be used in the updating of LPPWP’s Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring System (BAMS), which in turn would inform future management decisions that would hopefully safeguard and ensure the ecological integrity of the LPPWP.
