Banao Watershed, Kalinga

Banao Watershed, Kalinga Address: Abra and Kalinga Description: The Balbalasang-Balbalan National Park and Banao watershed area in the Northern Cordillera is proof positive of the inherent capacity of indigenous communities in natural resource protection and management. [...] - BBNP is considered as one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs), one of the Conservation Priority Areas (CPAS), and recently as one of the 128 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) of the Philippines. [...] Another indigenous system that is helping maintain the integrity of the site’s natural resources is lapat, by subjecting the gathering of any type of forest resource (not only pertaining to flora and fauna, but also the minerals, springs, and rivers) to the approval of the entire tribal community. [...] ● While this is a non-issue at present, the protected area status of BBNP and the ongoing CADT application may cause a potential conflict in the future in terms of who will have the ultimate responsibility of protecting and managing the area. [...] The results generated by this project were intended for use in inventory and profiling, baseline monitoring, project development, and as a basis for formulating the Area Development and Management Plan (ADMP) of the FPE-funded sites.