Davao Region: Home to two biodiversity sites

Text and photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
Two national parks in Davao Region are included in the seven biodiversity sites located in the Philippines: Mount Apo National Park in Davao del Sur and Mount Hamiguitan National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Davao Oriental.
Both are protected areas which are part of the ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs). ASEAN refers to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. So far, 35 AHPs have been designated since the last inscription in 2014.
“AHPs are protected areas of high-conservation importance, preserving in total a complete spectrum of representative ecosystems of the ASEAN region,” explains the Los Baños, Laguna-based ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), which serves as secretariat.
“These are established to generate greater awareness, pride, appreciation, enjoyment and conservation of ASEAN’s rich natural heritage, through a regional network of representative-protected areas, and to create greater collaboration among the ASEAN member-states in preserving their shared natural heritage,” ACB adds.
During the recent observation of World Tourism Day, the ACB urges Filipinos to visit the seven biodiversity sites. Instead of going to famous tourist spots like Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Batanes and Palawan, it suggests going to designated AHPs where visitors can “enjoy history, culture and biodiversity richness all at the same time.”
 
Mount Apo
Take the case of Mount Apo. “Looking for some mountain-climbing adventure?” asked Pamela Quinto-Reblora, who wrote a piece on country’s seven biodiversity sites. “Mount Apo, regarded as the last stronghold of the remaining population of the rare and endangered Philippine Eagle, is named after the majestic Mount Apo, a volcanic mountain rising to 3,143.6 meters and the highest mountain in the country.”
Apo, which means “ancestor,” “master,” or “grandfather,” is a flat-topped mountain with three peaks. It is capped by a 500-metre-wide (1,600 feet) volcanic crater containing a small crater lake. It is classified as a dormant but active Philippine volcano, whose most recent eruption is unknown and none are verified in historical times.
When Republic Act no. 9237 was approved on February 3, 2004, Mount Apo became a protected area under the category of Natural Park with an area of 54,974.87 hectares (135,845.9 acres). Two peripheral areas of 2,571.73 hectares (6,354.9 acres) and 6,506.40 hectares (16,077.7 acres) as buffer zones were provided for its management and for other purposes.
The Mount Apo National Park is considered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as the center of endemism in Mindanao. It has one of the richest botanical mountains in the region hosting hundreds of rare, endemic and threatened species of flora. Identified floral species includes 629 species, 42 of which are endemic and 18 species are considered at risk, including the “waling-waling,” the country’s second flower icon (after sampaguita).
Waling-waling (scientific name: Vanda sanderiana) “is one of the finest orchid species endemic to the Philippines, desired by orchid growers and breeders alike for its showy and attractive flowers and ability to impart its vigor and floral characteristics to its progeny,” wrote Dr. Helen Valmayor in her book, Orchidiana Philippiniana.
A Pictorial Cyclopedia of Philippine Ornamental Plants described the exotic waling-waling in these words: “The flowers are flat, to eight centimeters across; the sepals and petals are obviate, bluish pink, with buff-yellow stain, and dull-crimson reticulations on the lateral sepals; the lip is small and concave, purple-red at base, strongly recurved and brownish purple at apex; with three prominent keels.”
The waling-waling, named in “allusion to a moth in flight,” was discovered on Mindanao in 1882. It used to grow on tree trunks in the rainforests of Davao, Sultan Kudarat and other parts of the island. It is worshipped as “diwata” (fairy) by the native Bagobos.
The Mount Apo National Park is also home to one of the world’s largest eagles, the critically endangered Philippine Eagle, the country’s national bird. It was in 1896 when the bird of prey was first discovered by English naturalist John Whitehead in Samar.
At first, it was called “monkey-eating eagle” because he thought it fed primarily on monkeys. So he gave it the scientific name,Pithecophaga jefferyi. The scientific name came from two Greek words:pitekos (monkey) and phagien (to eat). Jefferyi was the discoverer’s tribute to his father, Jeffrey, who funded his expedition.
In 1978, the old name was dropped and given its present name through Presidential Decree No. 1732 after it was learned that monkeys comprise an insignificant portion of the bird’s diet, which consists mostly of flying lemurs, civet cats, bats, rodents, and snakes.
A majestic bird, Philippine eagle stands a meter high, weighs anywhere from four to seven kilograms and has a grip three times the strength of the strongest man on earth, according to the Philippine Eagle Foundation, Inc.
With a wingspan of nearly seven feet and a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour, the Philippine eagle can gracefully swoop down on an unsuspecting prey and carry it off without breaking flight.
 
Mount Hamiguitan
The ACB also urges Filipinos to visit Mount Hamiguitan. “Nature and wildlife enthusiasts will definitely enjoy Mount Hamiguitan, which has one of the most diverse wildlife populations in the Philippines,” the ACB said. “This 1,620-meter-high mountain is in San Isidro, Davao Oriental.”
Aside from Philippine eagles, there are several species of Nepenthes that inhabit the area, including the endemic Nepenthes peltata. The mountain has a protected forest area of approximately 2,000 hectares. This woodland is noted for its unique pygmy forest of century old trees in ultramafic soil, with many endangered, endemic and rare species of flora and fauna.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List has identified at least 11 endangered vertebrate species. The Laguna-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources and Development reported that the mountain is inhabited by five endangered species, 27 rare species, 44 endemic species and 59 economically important species.
In June 2014, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary was added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list of World Heritage Sites.
UNESCO, in its website, said: “The property showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats at different elevations, and includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, eight of which are found only at Mount Hamiguitan.”
 
Other biodiversity sites
There are two more national parks located in Mindanao that were included: Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park in Bukidnon and Mount Malindang Range Natural Park, which spans the provinces of Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.
In Luzon, two sites were listed: Mount Makiling Forest Reserve (home to an abundance of plant and animal species) in Los Baños, Laguna; and Mount-Iglit-Baco National Park, where the endemic tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) can be found.
The only natural park not located in the mountain and included in the list is the Tubbataha Reef Natural Park, which was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1993. “Be mesmerized by the crystal-clear waters and the amazing sight of underwater species of the natural park in the middle of the Sulu Sea,” ACB said.
UN Decade on Biodiversity
The United Nations designated 2011–2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. By the way, the term biological diversity was used first by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in his 1968 book entitled, A Different Kind of Country advocating conservation. The term’s contracted form biodiversity first appeared in a publication in 1988 when sociobiologist E. O. Wilson used it as the title of the proceedings of the 1986 National Forum on Biological Diversity convened by the US National Research Council.
Fifteen years ago, Time magazine named the Philippines as one of “the world’s top 25 biodiversity hot spots,” areas disturbed by human activity but which remain exceptionally rich in animal and plant species found nowhere else.
According to Russell Mittermeier, one of the authors of Megadiversity: Earth’s Biologically Wealthiest Nations, the Philippine biodiversity was “truly amazing in global terms and this is certainly true of overall diversity but especially so as regards endemism.”
Mount Makiling in Laguna alone has been found to have higher species diversity than the whole of North America. In 1997, the late award-winning zoologist Dioscoro Rabor reported at least 50 species of mammals, 120 bird species, six species of amphibians, 19 types of reptiles and several varieties of fish inhabiting the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve.
But one thing is sure: the Philippines is fast losing its biological resources. “A few decades ago, the wildlife of the Philippines was notable for its abundance; now, it is notable for its variety; if present trend of destruction continues, Philippine wildlife will be notable for its absence,” commented Dr. Lee Talbot, who used to head the Southeast Asia Project on Wildlife Conservation for Nature and Natural Resources.
Once a species is extinct, it cannot be brought back again. “When the last individual of a race of living beings breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again,” naturalist William Beebe reminded.