The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office here is supporting the campaign to include the Biri Rock Formation as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark.

DENR Eastern Visayas regional executive director Lormelyn Claudio said in a press briefing Tuesday this declaration is an added protection and recognition, considering that this famous landmark in Northern Samar province has been declared a protected area.

“Biri is already a protected area. The declaration as a geopark is also for the protection of its limestone walls,” Claudio told reporters.

The Biri Rock Formation is part of the Biri Larosa Protected Landscape and Seascape and one of the protected areas in Eastern Visayas under Republic Act No. 11038, or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018.

Located in the island town of Biri, the site can be reached by an hour-long motorboat ride from the port of Lavezares town.

The seven rock formations on Biri Island have been given international geological significance based on the 2010 geological survey done by the University of the Philippine National Institute of Geological Sciences, according to the provincial government.

Makadlaw rock formation was said to be part of the Early Miocene (about 15-20 million years old). Located in the famous San Bernardino Strait, known in ancient times as “Tagbaluran,” the Biri rock formations belonged to the “Biri Volcanic Complex.”

The most picturesque formations are Magasang, Magsapad, and Bel-at, which appeared to act as a blockade, shielding the island from the huge waves of the Philippine Sea and San Bernardino Strait, according to the provincial government.

On May 24, UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines Secretary-General Ivan Anthony Henares and other key officials visited Biri Rock Formations to assess the site.

Once declared, Biri Island will be the second UNESCO Global Geopark in the country after Bohol Island.

UNESCO Global Geoparks are “single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development. (PNA)