Located in North-eastern Palawan, in the Sulu Sea, the marine protected area surrounding Banwa Private Island is widely acknowledged as one of the few remaining places on Earth where nature can be experienced at its untouched best.
As protectors and supporters of this delicate local environment, Banwa Private Island has launched Unscripted Adventures. From waterfall chasing, to sandbank picnics and snorkelling with turtles and watching the fireflies light up the night sky, each experience has been designed to celebrate the best of the wilds of Palawan.
At the heart of Banwa Private Island is the Aquos Foundation, with its mission to support, nurture and protect the island’s delicate ecosystems. Each initiative supported by the foundation is based on scientific research and involves the local community.
Programmes include protection of the critically endangered Hawkbill Turtles by setting up conservation practices to protect preferential areas for the turtles to lay their eggs; deployment of more than 400 structures to stimulate the regeneration of corals around the island; and academic studies on the native Tabon Bird and Mantanani Scops Owl, as well as the preservation of the indigenous beach forests where they nest.
“At Banwa Private Island, our location in the delicate ecosystem of the Sulu Sea is what is truly unique,” says CEO Peter Nilsson. “With the launch of Unscripted Adventures, we wanted to create a platform that allowed our guests to really experience wilderness in its truest form – be it on land, at sea, or under the waves – giving them access to one of the most untouched areas in the world in a sensitive and supported way. With Aquos Foundation’s values at our core, we have a deep commitment to combine sustainable luxury with environment conservation so that we can both nurture and protect biodiversity in and around the island’s marine reserve.”
Activities include the chance to travel up the Ilian River and to take a short trek in the lowland forest through the remote barangay of Bagumbayan to the Disay Falls; picnics on Modessa, a small, idyllic coconut palm-fringed island that can be circumnavigated on foot in about 20 minutes; and firefly watching on the Barbacan River, one of north-eastern Palawan’s major bodies of water and the oldest water flow crossing the town of San Nicolas.
