Apo Reef in 1980. This was followed with the local government of Sablayan declaring the reef a special "Tourism Zone and Marine Reserve" three years later. In 1996, the entire reef was declared a protected natural park by then-president Fidel Ramos. In 2006, the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources submitted the reef to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for consideration as a World Heritage Site. Following a survey by the local chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature, fishing within the reef was banned by the Philippine government in September 2007. The
Apo-eup Unified Silla in 757, when it made up two "myeon" in Gaeryeong-hyeon: Dong-myeon and Apo-myeon. This situation continued for more than a thousand years, until the massive reorganization of Korea's local governments in 1914, at which time the two "myeon" were united into the present-day entity of Apo-eup. Apo-eup was originally part of Gimcheon County; when the county was split into Gimcheon City and Geumneung County in 1949, it became part of Geumneung County. With the reunification of city and county in 1995, Apo-eup became part of Gimcheon once more. Apo-eup is located near the heart of the national transportation