CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – At least four protected areas in Pampanga, Bulacan and Bataan have been proposed for inclusion in the list of ASEAN heritage parks and reserves, the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here has bared.
Francisco Milla, Jr., DENR director for Central Luzon, identified the areas as the Biak-na-Bato National Park (2,177 hectares) in Bulacan, Mt. Arayat National Park (3,715 hectares) in Pampanga, and Bataan Natural Park (19,821 hectares) and Roosevelt Protected Landscape (786 hectares), both in Bataan.
“Once the proposal is approved, these protected areas shall receive international funding from ASEAN and European funding countries to further promote their conservation and protection,” he said.
Up to 150,000 Euros or up to P9 million in grant funds shall be given to protected areas once they meet the screening criteria set by the Los Banos-based ASEAN Center for Biodiversity (ACB) which serves as secretariat to the ASEAN Heritage Park Programme, Milla noted.
Protected areas are areas set aside by government for their unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance biological diversity, and protected against destructive human exploitation. Milla said that to make it into the heritage list, a protected area must be ecologically complete and represents the different ecosystems; its conservation is highly important; it is documented as a conservation area; and has an approved management plan, among other criteria.
“The Philippines is one of the 18 mega diverse countries in the world, but it is also one of the world’s biodiversity ‘hotspots’. We can reverse this trend by promoting greater public awareness and cooperation in the protection and conservation of our protected areas,” he said.
Earlier, a team of biodiversity and conservation experts from ACB was sent on a two-day mission in Central Luzon to make an initial assessment of the proposed protected areas in Pampanga, Bataan and Bulacan. Central Luzon has 35 protected areas covering a total of 341,430 hectares, DENR records showed.
There are 33 declared ASEAN Heritage Parks in 10 Southeast Asian countries. Of these, five are found in the Philippines, namely: Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park (Bukidnon), Mt. Apo Natural Park (Davao), Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park (Mindoro), Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park (Misamis Occidental), and Mt. Makiling Nature Reserve (Laguna).
