Bicol Natural Park
The Bicol Natural Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon. It straddles the mountainous border between the provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur in the northern interior of the Bicol Peninsula. First declared as a national park covering on February 13, 1934, through Proclamation No. 657 of Governor General Frank Murphy, the Bicol National Park was later extended to its present area of through amendments made in Proclamation No. 655 signed by President Manuel Luis Quezon on December 23, 1940. The area was reclassified as a natural park on December 29, 2000, by virtue of Proclamation No. 43 by President Joseph Estrada.
Geography
The Bicol Natural Park spreads across the Camarines Norte municipalities of Basud and Mercedes, and the Camarines Sur municipalities of Sipocot and Lupi. It is situated at an elevation of above sea level bordered by the Tuaca River to the north, the agricultural lands of Sipocot and Lupi to the south, the Tuaca and Pulantuna rivers to the west, and the forests of Mercedes to the east. Located some southeast from Manila, the park is well known for its "EME", a winding road through the park that forms part of the Pan-Philippine Highway to Naga and Legazpi, the region's largest cities.The park is crossed by five rivers and eleven creeks which empty into the Bicol River. It contains natural swimming pools, picnic areas, park and camping areas, natural trails, back country shelters, and botanical and zoological gardens. A few settlements also exist within the park's boundary with a population total of 9,802 in 1991, the largest being Tuaca and San Pascual in Basud, Tible, Aldezar & Banban in Sipocot, and Sooc, San Jose & Napolidan in Lupi.
Biodiversity
The park covers more than thirty percent of the total lowland rainforest area remaining in the Philippines. It is composed of of virgin forest, of residual forest and of planted forest. The park is dominated by apitong trees, as well as yakal, white lauan, bagtikan, guijo, dalingdingan, hagakhak, narig, and red lauan. It also supports palm tree species such as kaong, Albert palm, bamboo palm and anahaw. Other flora found in the park are kamagong, molave, dita, magabuyo, malaikmo, almaciga, heart leaf, hauili, balobo, catmon, malugai and tibig.The National Museum also documented the following wildlife species in 1991: the Philippine forest rat, Geoffroy's rousette, Malay civet, palm civet, Philippine dawn bat, Philippine long-tailed macaque, red junglefowl, king quail, brahminy kite, green imperial pigeon, eastern grass owl, black-naped oriole, snowy egret, South American cane toad, giant Visayan frog, Tokay gecko, and several species of snakes and lizards.