Northern Negros Protected Areas and Watersheds



BACKGROUND

Located at the northwestern part of Negros Island within the Province of Negros Occidental, the Bago River Watershed is nestled between Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP) and the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP). Both parks constitute the largest portion of the remaining terrestrial forest ecosystem in the island with a combined area of more than 150,000 hectares. As a host for threatened and endangered species, the area is included in the list of the Alliance for Zero Extinction.

Bago Watershed supports more than 15,000 hectares for irrigation, and several industries and commercial establishments for water resource requirement. Some three million people dependend on the ecosystem services provided by Bago Watershed, MKNP, and NNNP such as water for domestic use, food, livelihood, and flood control.

These natural assets are also important biodiversity conservation sites that are included in the Alliance for Zero Extinction in the Philippines. They host a number of threatened and endangered species that are endemic to the area such as the Negros Bleeding Heart Dove, Visayan Warty Pig, Visayan Spotted Deer, and Red Lauan.

In 2010, total forest cover in the three priority sites was at 39,000 hectares or 19.2% of total land area. However, continued forest and habitat degradation are prevalent, caused by unregulated extraction of forest resources, illegal tree cutting, unsustainable fuel-wood collection, illegal hunting, intensive conversion of forest into agricultural land, and growing human settlements. These pressures on the natural forests resulted in 2,400 hectares of forest degrading per year and a net forest loss of at least 290 hectares per year.