Mt Makiling in Philippines’ named Asean heritage park
Dormant volcano’s 2,048 plant species have made it a living laboratory for scientists and scholars
Manila: Environmental ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have named a highly-diversified mountain in southern Luzon as the Philippines’ fifth ASEAN heritage park, a senior official said.
Ten ASEAN environment ministers named Mt Makiling Forest Reserve in Laguna as the 33rd Asean Heritage Park (AHP), and also the Philippines’ fifth AHP, said Environment Secretary Ramon Paje.
“The inclusion of Mt Makiling in the prestigious list of the region’s heritage parks prompts us to enhance our stewardship of this wonderful forest reserve,” Paje said during a ceremony at Mt Makiling Botanical Gerdens, where ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity officials presented Makiling’s certification to University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UP) Chancellor Victor Cruz.
UP, established as a forest school at the foot of Mt Makiling in 1910, was given the responsibility to manage the mountain in 1960.
Its 2,048 plant species have made it a living laboratory for scientists and scholars whose findings resulted in the establishment of 18 centres for plant diversity studies in Mt Makiling. It has 32 ecotourism sites that include hot springs, gardens, and flat rock hiking trails.
Known as a dormant volcano, it is 1,090 metre above sea level, and its 4,244 hectare straddles on Laguna’s Calamba City and Los Banos, and Batangas’ Sto. Tomas, all in southern Luzon.
Apart from UP it also hosts the National Arts Centre, the Philippine High School for the Arts, which offers art-based secondary education, and the National Scout Reservation campsite.
ASEAN has also declared as heritage parks four other mountains in the Philippines: Mount Apo Natural Park, Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park, and Mount Malindang Range Natural Park, in Mindanao, southern Philippines; and the Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park in Occidental Mindoro in southern Luzon.
ASEAN began citing mountains as heritage parks in the region in 2003.
Asean is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
