Elevation> 60% with more than 500 m. above sea level> 239 small and large mountains> Mt. Pulag, 2nd highest mountain in the country

with elevation of 2,922 meters above sea level

Slope> 90% is above 18% in slope ranging from

rolling, steep to very steep slopes

Forestland / Timberland= 1,554,351 hectares

or 85.15%Alienable & Disposable Lands= 275,017 hectares

or 14.85%

Ninety-nine (99%) or 1,821,691 ha. of CAR totalland area of 1,829,368 ha. is serving as awatershed supporting domestic, irrigation andinfrastructure projects within and outside theregion.

La Union

Ilocos Sur

Ilocos Norte

Cagayan

Isabela

Nueva Viscaya

Pangasinan

Agno : 128,725.25 haDrains at San Manuel,Pangasinan, R-1

Magat : 232,445.57 haDrains at Ramon, Isabela, R-2

Abra : 441,501.88 haDrains at Santa, Ilocos SurR-1

Cabicungan : 5,888.06 haDrains at Claveria, Cagayan, R-2

Bued : 18,473.81 haDrains at Rosario, La UnionR-1

Aringay : 19,455.43 haDrains at Aringay, La UnionR-1

Naguilian : 25,939.02 ha Drains at Naguilian, La unionR-1

Amburayan : 60,848.21 haDrains at Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, R-1

Apayao-Abulog : 265,094.69 haDrains at Abulog, Cagayan, R-2

Chico : 405,670.60 haDrains at Tuao, Cagayan, R-2

Siffu-Mallig : 150,258.12 haDrains at Mallig, Isabela, R-2

Silag : 12,244.05 haDrains at Sta.Maria,Ilocos Sur, R-1

Zumigui-Ziwanan : 55,146.89 haDrains at Pamplona, Cagayan, R-2

13 MAJOR WATERSHEDS

Supposedly, CAR is a big WATERSHED

CAR is the source of water for four (4)Large hydropower plants and severalmini-hydropower plants in the regionsupplying the main transmission grid ofthe country

• Ambuklao 75 MW (rehab on-going)

• Magat 360 MW• Binga 100 MW• San Roque 345 MW• Mini-Hydro (14) 110 MW (potential power)

Magat Dam

Binga Dam

Ambuklao Dam

San Roque Dam

OUR VAST POTENTIALS

CAR is the biggest source of water for irrigationsystems of our neighboring lowland regions with atotal service area of 208,065 hectares and irrigatedarea of 128,909 hectares.

OUR FOREST

Our forest comprises 85% of the total landarea. The protection forest covers 63% ofwhich much of our water comes from andfresh, cool air we breathe….

Province Production Protection

TotalArea (has.)

%Area (has.)

%

AbraApayaoBenguetIfugaoKalingaMT. Province

123,287143,407

20,483106,891136,336

48,203

404210475125

185,231217,219194,795117,804131,216146,479

603890534975

308,518343,626215,278224,695267,552194,682

Regional total

578,607 37 195,744 63 1,554,351 Protection Forest

OUR PROTECTED AREAS

Initial Protected Areas ( 78,392 Ha.)Mt. Pulag National Park 11,550 haCassamata Hill National Park 57 haBalbalasang-Balbalan National Park 20,864 haMt. Data National Park 5,512 haMarcos Highway Watershed Forest Reserve 6,105 haLower Agno Watershed Forest Reserve 34,304 ha

Proposed Protected Areas ( 30,603.866 ha.)Aran Cave 107 haMarag Valley 10,786 haMt. Kalawitan 12,143 haMt. Poswey 3,168 haAgora Wildlife Sanctuary 2,816 haNagan-Maton 3,533 haQuilling Cave 50.866 ha

Proclaimed Protected Area (77,698 Ha.)Upper Agno River Basin Resource Reserve 77,698 ha

Total Area: 188,693.866 ha. (10% of the total watershed)

CAR is endowed with beautiful areas that needto be protected. A legacy for the present andfuture generations to see.

La Union

Ilocos Sur

IlocosNorte

Cagayan

Isabela

Nueva Viscaya

Pangasinan

OUR LAND CONCERNS

The Land Management is mandated toadminister, survey, manage, and disposeAlienable and Disposable (A&D) lands and othergovernment lands not placed under thejurisdiction of other government agencies.

Of the 15% Alienable and Disposable lands inthe region’s total land area, the regionundertakes Forestland Boundary Delineationand Land Use Allocation, Cadastral Survey,Patent Issuance and Densification of PRS ’92Control Points.

With this, the region delineated 1,631 kms. offorestline boundary, forestland use assessmentof 163,100 ha. and staked 4,893 old/proposed LCcorners. Issued 9,514 patents covering 4,832 ha.and 588 PRS’92 stations were established toname a few.

MT. PULAG NATIONAL PARK

SITUATIONER(as of July 2009)

A report by the DENR-CAR

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts

Touted by mountaineering enthusiasts as a mightymountain to conquer, Mt. Pulag towers majestically at2,922 METERS above sea level, it is the secondhighest summit in the Philippines .

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts

• It has a total land area of 11,500 hectares, it is a unique mountain ecosystem embracing several mountain peaks that have water courses running through sharp slopes of public domain that straddles portions of the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Viscaya.

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts• It was officially established on February 20, 1987 By

virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 75. It was then called Mt. Pulog National Park. In 1997, it was renamed to Mt. Pulag National Park by its Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) to conform to the traditionally known name of the mountain.

Mt. Pulag Fast FactsProclamations Protecting Mount Pulag and Surrounding Areas

Source: DENR-CAR (2008)

PROCLAMATIONS DATE OF ISSUANCE COVERAGE (HECTARES) AREAS COVERED

Proclamation No. 217 (Central Cordillera Forests Reservation) by Gov. Gen. Henry Stimson of the U.S. colonial government (as amended by Proc. 1758)

February 16, 1929 74,631 Various areas of the region, including Mount

Pulag and upstream Agno

Proclamation 120 (Upper Agno Watershed Reservation) by Pres. Marcos

November 25, 1966 9,700 Atok and Bokod, Benguet

Proclamation No. 548 (Ambuklao-Binga Watershed Forest Reserve) by Pres. Marcos

April 19, 1969 63,650 Atok and Bokod, Benguet

Proclamation No. 75 (Mount Pulag National Park) by Pres. Aquino

February 20, 1987 11,550 Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, and Ifugao

Most recent proclamation:

• Proclamation No. 268 –Upper Agno River

Basin Resource Reserve (UARBRR) -77,561 hectares

Based from:

Proclamation 548--63,650 hectares

Proclamation 120 -- 9700 hectares

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts• Aside from its biologically diverse environment, Mt. Pulag National Park is also

known for its rich cultural heritage being home to four ethno linguistic groups whose traditions and culture particularly in relation to protecting the Park’s natural resource has made the Park retain most of its natural heritage. During the past decade however, their culture and tradition began to erode because of the introduction of the cash economy. This has started the fast disappearance of the natural resources particularly the forest which is illegally cut for logs then sold, or cleared for gardens or farms to plant cash crops.

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts

• Mt. Pulag is inhabited by indigenous peoples that includes the Kalanguyas, Ibalois, Kankanaeys, Karaos and other ethnic tribes. There are a total of 13 barangays that comprise the park with an estimated 18,000 residents.

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts

• Mt. Pulag is one of the eighteen sites identified as ecosystems and habitats containing high plant diversity in the country. It has floral affinities with those of temperate continental Asia, Australasia and to some extent Peninsular Malaysia. Studies showed that Mt Pulag contains 528 plant species and 42% of which are endemic to the area.

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts

• The park is habitat of 76 bird species, 14 species of which are migratory, 9 are endemic to Luzon and 30 species are endemic to the Philippines. Also, 14 bird species have a global distribution of less than 50,000 sq. km and 9 are threatened species. In addition, several threatened species of mammals are present in the Park which includes Philippine Brown Deer, Northern Giant Cloud rat, and Long-haired Fruit Bat.

Mt. Pulag Fast Facts

• As part of the vast Cordillera mountain system, Mt.Pulag serves as a watershed providing the waternecessities of many stakeholders for domestic andindustrial use, irrigation, hydroelectric powerproduction and aquaculture . It is the main watersource and watershed of the dams in Ifugao,Benguet and Pangasinan

BUT as of the present, Mt. Pulag National Park is facing several threatsand constraints which include the expansion and encroachment ofagricultural farms, timber poaching and wildlife hunting, unregulatedtourism, infrastructure development, bio-prospecting activities,overlapping of tenurial instruments and diverse indigenous resourcemanagement and practices and the detrimental influence of economy ofsupply and demand.

A police points out to a clearing as if to show--How to devastate a forest, the Mt. Pulag lesson.

The devastation continues……….

The pillage starts at the foothills and gradually climbs to the highest possible “farm site”. Nothing is spared, even the tiniest plant which are removed to give way to a patch of cabbages, potatoes or whatever…..that means cash!

Before the gardens, the trees are cleared but it is not clear where these cut lumber are delivered, another extra income for the “enterprising farmer”. Recently, a DENR team with the support of the PNP went to confiscate these illegally cut lumber.

After felling the trees, the “farm is cleared”. The weeds and the tiniest plants would be killed so it won’t hamper the growth of the vegetables.

The devastation was perfect!, the treesdown to its roots are dead, the small plantsand the weeds were incorporated into the soil,the exposed stones are lined-up to delineatethe “tax-declared” properties , the gardens areready for the seeds, and its clear cash in aboutthree months.

This tree and those below were still standing in June, 2009 but because it hampered the growth of the potatoes, it was killed and by July, 2009, it became just a plain fertilizer material incorporated into the soil.

THE INVASION OF THE BACKHOES – a brightorange, yellow, green, virtually all colors of thecolor spectrum and even a camouflage one justlike the one’s used in war and Mt. Pulag is indistress because of the invasion of thesecontraptions courtesy of the so called“enterprising” vegetable farmers and theirfinanciers who think that vegetables are moreimportant than trees. These backhoes couldflatten a mountain once profused withcenturies-old trees in a few hours and prepare itinto vegetable gardens which is what ishappening now to Mount Pulag. The Mt. PulagNational Park area is supposed to be aprotected area as proclaimed but someindividuals have been issued with “taxdeclarations” by way of some local legislationsand so the farmers with their “tax declarations”continue to exploit “their properties”, nevermind the possible environmental catastrophethat their activities may bring in the future.More vegetable farms means more money tothe farmer but with this mindset, the biologicaland socio-cultural importance of this preciousmountain said to be “enchanting and divine“ byits residents and even visitors will be gone in afew years time.

Trees that are hundreds, maybe thousand of years old and God only knows, virtually zapped because of man’s greed.

DENR-CAR RED Primitivo C. Galinato Jr. and OIC-PENRO Godfrey Cawis confer withKabayan, Benguet Mayor Faustino M. Aquisan on the possible solutions to the presentenvironmental situation of the Mt. Pulag National Park.

RED Primitivo C. Galinato Jr., who personally visited the Lake Tabeyo part inside the Mt. Pulag National Park and saw the massive destruction of the area. He was accompanied by PAWCZMS RTD Reynald Yawan, OIC PENRO-Benguet Godfrey Cawis and OIC-CENRO Baguio Edgardo Flor together with other technical personnel.

RED Galinato consulting with his technical personnel at the site.

RED Galinato with OIC-CENRO Baguio Ed Flor and Mt. Pulag PASU Emerita Albas

RED Galinato conferring with Kabayan Mayor Aquisan and one of the barangay captains of one of the barangays of Kabayan.

RED Galinato conferring with the police. At the forefront is RTD Reynald Yawan.

Because of the observation during the actual field inspection, the DENR-CAR under the leadership of RED Primitivo C. Galinato Jr. initiated immediate actions in the area such as:● Confiscation of the illegally-cut lumbers ;● Filing of Cases in Court;● Meeting with the LGU’s and explaining to the consequences of the forest degradation;● Meeting with the RDC, the Tanggol-Kalikasan and other groups expounding about the sorry state of the protected area and its current situation and asking for their support;● Putting-up of a permanent Ranger Stations in Mt. Pulag including other reported hot-spot areas.

With Kabunian’s grace and the conviction of the present DENR management to protect it, it is hoped that the richness of this majestic and

mystic mountain and that of the entire Cordilleras shall be with man forever…….

Presentation prepared by:DENR-CAR RPAO