The Philippine government recently launched a project aimed at preserving the biodiversity of Samar Island, which has been listed as one of the top 200 endangered sites in the world. The island's biodiversity is threatened due to the indiscriminate exploitation of the island's biodiversity by local people. "To avoid such exploitation, we are planning to establish the Samar Island Natural Park and get a presidential proclamation for it,' said George Guillermo, the project manager. He added that the project aims to empower local communities. To facilitate this, biodiversity monitoring, social assessment and community consultations in 35 municipalities are being carried out.