A protected mangrove forest stands strong as Metro Manila’s last coastal frontier

MANILA — Spanning the coasts of two cities in Metro Manila, and referred to as the capital region’s “last coastal frontier,” Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park (LPPWP) is a critical site of both ecological and economic importance. Primarily made up of two interconnected artificial islands, Freedom Island and Long Island, this thriving wetland ecosystem along Manila Bay started out as an unintentionally formed patch of land, the product of accumulated debris from a massive expressway construction project that was completed in 1985. Four decades later, the nearly 182-hectare (450-acre) habitat continues to be a sanctuary for more than 163 local and migratory bird species — including the endemic Philippine duck (Anas luzonica) and the Chinese egret (Egretta eulophotes), both listed as vulnerabl