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Preserving endangered ecosystems: Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

The Tubbataha Marine Park is located in the Sulu Sea, just off the coast of the Philippines. This property was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993. With 374 different species of coral, Tubbataha Reef is one of the world’s finest examples of a coral reef. Human activity is forbidden within the park, except for during fishing season, in order to protect its ecosystems. Scientists consider the site as both a research laboratory and ecological and biological monitoring station. At the 33rd annual conference in Seville (Spain) in June 2009, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre approved an extension to the site, tripling its surface area. This extension was approved on the basis of the same criteria as those presented for Tubbataha’s original inscription in 1993: exceptional natural phenomena, biodiversity, endangered species living in the park, etc. You can learn about the marine sites supported under the “Tides of Time” partnership whenever you want - listen to interviews with Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre and discover or rediscover the videos on jaegerlecoultreclub, the Official Jaeger-LeCoultre Channel on YouTube. 2010 marks the third year of the partnership between Jaeger-LeCoultre, the International Herald Tribune and UNESCO. This partnership has already seen the realisation of several ambitious projects : • The promotion of protected sites to raise public awareness; • The recruitment of a coordinator for the marine programme implemented by the World Heritage Centre; • The development of a watch specifically for the partnership, the Master Compressor Extreme W-Alarm Tides of Time; • Auctions with the proceeds going to threatened sites... Jaeger-LeCoultre has already held two auctions on its internet site. All the proceeds (GBP13,540 and GBP12,600) have been donated to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, such as the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. This donation has enabled Tubbataha to purchase a radar system to control traffic in the Park’s waters. The Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre is involved in a partnership with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the International Herald Tribune to help promote, protect and safeguard outstanding marine sites that require specific immediate intervention. The 2010-11 program with the new selected Unesco World Heritage sites will be : • Tubbataha extension (Philippines) • Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area (China) • Ibiza (Spain) • Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve Russia / Artic • Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape Project • Banc d'Arguin National Park (Mauritania) • Ha Long Bay (Vietnam) Extended coverage of the event is now on-line in LeClub. Registration is free. Click here to join.