Skip to content
OurVote2022logo
mindanews-fact-check-logo-1
  • Business
  • Peace Process
  • Governance
  • Travel
  • Arts & Culture
  • Special Reports
  • Mindaviews
  • Pictures
Menu
  • Business
  • Peace Process
  • Governance
  • Travel
  • Arts & Culture
  • Special Reports
  • Mindaviews
  • Pictures

DENR wants Mt. Hamiguitan an ASEAN Heritage Park, too

  • Mindanews

-

  • July 10, 2014
Share this story

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 July) – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pushing for the inclusion of the Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary as an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heritage Park, an official of the agency said.

Speaking during Tuesday’s Davao Business Forum at Dermpath, SM Ecoland, Ruel Colong, DENR protected area supervisor for the mountain range, said the agency has submitted to the ASEAN committee in charge of determining the list of heritage parks last May.

Colong said the list updates the data the agency submitted to make the area a part of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) world heritage list.

“There are 1,403 species listed in the updated list,” Colong said, adding that Mt. Hamiguitan used to have around 1,380 species listed in its biodiversity portfolio in 2012.

With boundaries shared by the municipalities of Governor Generoso and San Isidro and the City of Mati in Davao Oriental, Mt. Hamiguitan was declared a world heritage site by the UNESCO last month.

The DENR identified threats to the area as the unregulated gathering of minor forest products, timber poaching, wildlife poaching, visitor and tourism pressures, littering, lack of alternative livelihood activities, as well as limited resources for effective protected area management.

Aside from these are the existence of mining tenements in the protected area, as well as the effects of industrialization of adjacent areas that impair the hydrologic cycle and biodiversity.

According to an Executive Summary document provided by the DENR, the property has 957 plant species and 423 animal species.

These include “723 angiosperms, 27 conifers, 164 ferns and allies, 17 mosses, 13 liverworts, 13 lichens, and an undetermined number of fungi species.”

The document also lists species of “15 non-flying mammals, 11 flying mammals, 108 birds, 33 reptiles, 18 frogs, 142 butterflies, 31 dragonflies and damselflies, 46 spiders, four earth worms, and 15 nematodes.”

The updated biodiversity package lists 963 floral species and 440 animal species, among these 729 angiosperms, 27 gymnosperms, 151 ferns, 13 fern allies, 17 mosses, 13 liverworts, 13 lichens, 15 non-volant mammals, 11 volant mammals, 108 avi-fauna, 33 reptiles, 18 frogs, 142 butterflies, 31 odonata, 46 spiders, 4 earthworms, 15 nematodes, 17 fish.

Threatened species include rare and endemic ornamental plants, ferns, pitcher plants, as well as 124 animals endemic in the Philippines and 39 species endemic in Mindanao.

Seven species of animals are endemic only to the area.

Two species of animals are critically endangered, with six others endangered and 21 vulnerable.

Some 113 species are rare, and six others have been discovered to be new species.

According to a study published in the Journal of Environmental Science and management, anthropogenic activities such as the creation of roads as well as mining activities contribute to environmental stress, leading to a disturbance of distribution among species such as birds.

The study suggests that there was a correlation between industrialization to the diversity, abundance and endemism of species found in the area, depending on elevation and disturbances to their habitat.

Fritzie Camino, in a phone interview Tuesday, said there was a higher incidence of biodiversity protection in the municipality of San Isidro, compared with the other jurisdictions such as Mati City.

Camino was among the proponents of the study titled “Avifaunal assemblage in Mt. Hamiguitan, Davao Oriental.”

“Continuing operations of logging and mining in … habitats may strongly lead these documented and undiscovered species to local eventually to global extinction,” the study concluded.

Colong said studies on birds, spiders, dragonflies and damselflies, Philippine Eagles, as well as other species, contributed greatly in the declaration of the heritage site by the UNESCO.

Your perspective matters! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage respectful discussions. Don't hesitate to share your ideas or engage with others.
Advertisement
Rakrakan
Follow us on Facebook
Facebook
The MindaNews Podcast
-- ad here--

TOP STORIES

Approval, trust ratings of Bongbong, Sara down – PUBLiCUS Asia survey

H. Marcos C. Mordeno September 22, 2023 2:46 pm

2 ride-hailing companies awaiting endorsement from Davao City Council

Miah Christine Bontilao September 22, 2023 2:21 pm

Groups urge Filipino youth to remember martial law

Antonio L. Colina IV September 21, 2023 4:29 pm

Brgy officials with no lechon experience win Iligan’s ‘Indigay sa Litson’

Marivic Omandam Davis September 21, 2023 12:16 pm

Guv seeks deeper probe on Surigao Norte cult

Chris V. Panganiban September 20, 2023 7:12 pm

MINDAVIEWS

KINURISKURIS: San Pedro Cathedral

Keith Bacongco September 17, 2023 2:51 pm

BATANG MINDANAW: To my 22-year-old writer self 

Jhon Steven C. Espenido September 17, 2023 2:51 pm

TURNING POINT: Responding to the Extended Provocation

William R. Adan September 11, 2023 3:13 pm
Read more MINDAVIEWS

BUSINESS NEWS

18 homegrown cafés joining Davao Coffee Crawl

Antonio L. Colina IV September 20, 2023 3:12 pm

25 delegates from Mindanao to join international expo in Sabah

Antonio L. Colina IV September 13, 2023 2:00 pm

Senator Villar cites EU’s GSP+ during tuna congress

Bong S. Sarmiento September 7, 2023 5:21 pm

Davao Region’s inflation rate lowest in Mindanao

Antonio L. Colina IV September 5, 2023 9:53 pm

Japanese firm looking for more suppliers of coconut-based food products

Mindanews August 31, 2023 2:35 pm

95 exhibitors to join Davao Agri Trade Expo

Antonio L. Colina IV August 23, 2023 5:48 pm

ARTS & CULTURE

Sarangani writers showcase literary works in Philippine Book Festival

Genory Vanz Alfasain August 27, 2023 4:11 pm

INTERACTIVE MAP | Cagayan de Oro Higalaay Festival 2023

Yas D. Ocampo August 25, 2023 2:00 pm

Davao City Events | Palawud x Holodeck, Budots: The Craze

Mindanews August 19, 2023 10:10 am

Kadayawan Festival 2023 event guide

Yas D. Ocampo August 7, 2023 4:01 pm

The MindaNews Podcast: Aubrey DS and the creative pursuits that drive us

Mindanews July 10, 2023 7:06 pm
eric gancio of yano

The MindaNews Podcast: Davao-based Eric Gancio and the return of Yano

Yas D. Ocampo June 2, 2023 5:15 pm

MindaNews is the news service arm of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism. It is composed of independent, professional journalists who believe and practice people empowerment through media.

23C Saturn St. GSIS Subdivision, Davao City Philippines Tel. No.: 082 297 4360 editor [at] mindanews.com
Facebook Twitter

© MindaNews 2016 -2023 | All Rights Reserved

About Us

Privacy Policy