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The last time I visited the Mts. Iglit Baco National Park on Mindoro
Island was in the 80s. The main attraction of the park is the
Tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis), a smaller version of the carabao and
with horns forming a “V.” It is endemic to Mindoro, which means
that it cannot be found elsewhere and is one of the most critically
endangered mammals in the world. We did not see a wild one, thank
heavens, as we were told that they do attack.
According to Haribon-BirdLife, the park is
mostly grassland, which is the habitat of the Tamaraw, but there is
one area of forest close to Mount Iglit, a few other patches, and an
extensive block on steep slopes in the Mindoro Oriental sector of
the park. These are mainly montane forests on very steep slopes but
there are some areas of lowland dipterocarp forest. It is home to
four cultural groups, the Batangan, Hanunuo, Mangyan and Bangan who
practice traditional agriculture and depend on the park for game and
food gathering.
Many of the threatened and restricted-range
birds have been recorded in the park. Some of these are the endemic
Mindoro Bleeding-heart, the Mindoro Imperial pigeon, Philippine
Cockatoo, Black-hooded Coucal, Mindoro Scops Owl, Mindoro Hornbill
and the Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker. Significant numbers of deer
and wild pigs are also reported to occur here. Mts. Iglit-Baco is
also the type of locality for the Mindoro pallid flying fox, a bat
that is believed to have very small and fragmented populations and
is possibly highly endangered.
Threats to the area include cattle ranching,
upland farming and firewood gathering, which have led to the rapid
deforestation both inside and outside of the national park. The
unpredictable law and order situation in the immediate vicinity of
the park makes it difficult to prevent these disturbances. However,
some of the remaining forests are very remote, and therefore,
relatively safe. Most of the grasslands are being used as pasture
and regular burning is the conventional practice used to encourage
the growth of young grass shoots. In many cases, these are left to
spread into the forest, which are slowly being eroded. The stand of
acacia woodland near the Lamintao River is threatened by over
harvesting for furniture manufacture. There are ecotourism
activities in the lower parts of the park near the Anahawin River,
the impacts of which still have to be determined.
Hunting and poaching of the resources of the
national park are also reported to be problems. The main hunting
pressure is caused by trophy hunters from outside the park but it is
also caused to some extent by the traditional hunting of the
Mangyans, whose numbers have increased substantially. The Tamaraw,
although protected by law, is still hunted in this area especially
in the remote parts.
One of the conservation actions that the park
superintendent has taken is the implementation of a communication
plan to increase awareness of residents within and outside of the
park of its ecological and economic importance and the need to
protect it. A perception survey was conducted among tenured
migrants, local government unit staff, indigenous peoples and youth
respondents. It is interesting to note that the respondents ranked
food, water and clean air as the top three benefits that they derive
from the national park while illegal logging, kaingin and forest
fires were the primary environmental concerns they mentioned.
They are also aware that they have contributed
very little to the park’s protection but depend very much on the
natural resources for their livelihood, thus, are inclined to lead
protection efforts together with the government. They do see the
importance of protecting the tamaraw as they are very much aware of
its threatened status globally. They also see it as a species, which
can very well attract tourists to their park.
In the next few years, Park Superintendent Dante
Diwa hopes to see that sustainable upland farming methods are
adopted, the levels of awareness of migrants on existing laws, rules
and regulations on resource extraction will have increased and both
the IP communities and the migrants will have internalized the link
between environment conservation and human life. He looks forward to
more field visits and informal gatherings with the communities,
meetings with the local government units and other concerned
offices, using the radio as a channel for effective communication
and the publication and distribution of information materials.
orgsus@haribon.org.ph
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