Mt. Busa pushed as Sarangani Protected Area
By: Bernard Supetran
Local authorities of Sarangani and conservationists are joining hands in pushing the declaration of Mt. Busa mountain range, home to one of Mindanao’s last verdant primary forests, into a national protected area.
Its declaration as a protected landscape under the country’s Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act of 2018 would prohibit activities such as poaching or disturbing wildlife, hunting, collecting any wildlife or byproducts, mining, land conversion, slash-and-burn farming, and unauthorized cutting or removal of timber.
E-NIPAS or Republic Act 11038 is a law which aims to ensure the ecological integrity of protected areas and mandates the creation of management boards for declared protected areas.
He said that their office has already submitted the requirements for the proposed declaration to the DENR-Region 12 and the central office in Manila for processing.
The assessment was facilitated by the Mt. Busa Conservation Task Force, which is supported by the Sulong Kalikasan program of governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.
“Its declaration into a protected area will add more teeth to the protection efforts and the enforcement of various environmental laws. It will also provide for the allocation of regular funds from local and national governments that will strengthen the implementation of conservation programs for the site,” says Ramirez.
At the House of Representatives, Sarangani Rep. Rogelio Pacquiao has filed House Bill 9055 declaring the mountain range as a protected landscape.
At the grassroots level, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has passed Resolution No. 2020-10-042 declaring Mt. Busa environs as a local conservation area. The municipal boards and barangay councils of Maasim, Kiamba and Maitum have also endorsed a parallel resolution, while community stakeholders have mounted a signature campaign supporting the said request.
Mt. Busa serves as a habitat for the Philippine Eagle
The 2,064-meter peak straddles the towns of Maasim, Kiamba and Maitum, and covers a total area of 118,443.15 hectares in Sarangani’s western half.
A DENR key biodiversity and important bird area, the mountain range is habitat to some 200 plant, 58 bird, 30 amphibian, 24 reptile, 12 mammal, and at least 18 flora and fauna species, and 36 waterfalls. Other threatened wildlife species of conservation concern found in the area are the Philippine eagle, southern rufous, Mindanao flying lizard, Taylor’s dwarf reed snake, Kalaw, tarsier, and frog and orchid species.
It was named by the DENR as a Key Biodiversity Area based on the vulnerability and irreplaceability of species in the area.
Mt. Busa is culturally significant as it is considered a hallowed ground to the Tboli indigenous peoples, and known to the tribe as Bulul Tembob. It is also economically vital as it balances the area’s ecosystem, including the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, one of Mindanao’s richest fishing grounds.
The mountain also maintains two major river systems—Pangi, site of the whitewater rafting adventure, and Siguel which feeds a hydro power plant for domestic and agricultural use.