(First of three parts)
CITY OF MATI, Davao Oriental – Known for its unique pygmy forest, the Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary Range is one of the richest biodiversity area not just in Philippines but perhaps in Asia as well.
MAP of the Mount Hamiguitan Protected Area
With an area of at 26,652 hectares, Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary Range straddles the towns of Governor Generoso and San Isidro and this city.
About 7,000 hectares of its total area has been declared protected area under the Republic Act 9303 in 2004.
However, some stakeholders in the region have expressed serious concern due to ongoing nickel mining operations on its foothills.
Known as the Pujada Nickel Project, it is touted to be one of 23 priority mining projects under government's 2004 Minerals Action Plan.
Both Austral-Asia Link Mining Corp. (AALMC) and Hallmark Mining Corp. hold Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) permit under the management of Asiaticus Management Corp. (AMCOR).
PUJADA Nickel Project (Hallmark Mining Corp website)
Each MPSA covers 5,000 hectares of mine site.
These mining tenements straddle across the towns of Gov. Generoso, San Isidro, and here.
Aside from the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Pujada Nickel Project is also adjacent to the Pujada Bay, a protected seascape that is home to different marine species.
The mining tenements sit on the ancestral domain of the Mandaya ethnic group, a dominant indigenous peoples’ tribe in this province.
The Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Range Sanctuary is home to 1,380 species, 340 of which are endemic to the Philippines.
Among the endemic species found in the mountain range is the critically endangered Philippine Eagle, the country’s national bird.
In 2014, the wildlife sanctuary was inscribed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, becoming the first in Mindanao and the sixth in the Philippines.
According to the UNESCO website, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary provides a haven to a host of globally threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, eight of which are found nowhere else except Mount Hamiguitan.
Last decent strip
Dr. Jayson Ibañez, director for conservation and research of the Philippine Eagle Foundation, described the mountain range as “the last decent strip of suitable Philippine Eagle habitat in Mindanao.”
Even as the mining tenement is outside of the declared protected area, Ibañez said that mining operations are still a serious concern as they are still within the key biodiversity area of the Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Range Sanctuary.
MOUNT Hamiguitan
He emphasized that mining will always have negative consequences to the entire biodiversity.
“For instance, whenever mining removes the vegetation and the top soil to extract the minerals, wholesale
death of organisms is inevitable. Of course, wildlife within protected areas is spared, but many organisms living at the mined areas would perish.”
As the mining operations would eventually result to deforestation, Ibañez lamented that it would also mean loss of food source among wildlife in the area, including the critically endangered Philippine Eagle.
“While the mining operations are outside of the nesting site of the Philippine Eagle, it is still within their territory,” he said.
Based on estimates, the amount of suitable Philippine Eagle habitats in the mountain range can support at least two to three Philippine Eagle pairs.
According to PEF, a pair pf Philippine Eagle needs about 4,000 to 11,000 hectares of forest land to thrive in the wild, depending on the number of prey items in the area.
He disclosed that a pair of Philippine Eagle is nesting in the last lowland forest of Barangay Cabuaya, one of the coastal barangays that sits on the mountain range.
Another pair is reported to be nesting on the San Isidro side of the mountain range, Ibañez added.
He emphasized that Hamiguitan plays a very important role in sustaining the wild eagle population in Eastern Mindanao.
PHILIPPINE Eagle
Ibañez lauded Asiaticus for relinquishing a large part of their mining tenement in Barangay Cabuaya here since it is a known nesting site of the Philippine Eagle.
The Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Range is part of Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor (EMBC), one of three “megadiverse” yet “hotspot” focal areas in the country.
The EMBC is a long stretch of lowland and mid-to high elevation forests on the east coast of Mindanao from Dinagat Island down to the Mount Hamiguitan Range.
Hence, EMBC has been a subject for government conservation programs along with academic institutions and non-government organizations.
By virtue of the location of Mount Hamiguitan, Ibañez believes that these pairs of Philippine Eagles are producing offspring that would eventually become sources of Philippine Eagles that would occupy other forests within the EMBC.
“Because of the uniqueness of Mount Hamiguitan, we also believe the remaining population in Hamiguitan also contributes to the overall genetic biodiversity of Philippine Eagles on Mindanao.”
But for critically endangered species, like the Philippine Eagle, each pair of the eagles or each eagle is important, he said. “So if you want to conserve the whole Eagle population, we need to conserve the Philippine Eagles found on Mount Hamiguitan.”
Consent from the tribe
Aside from its unique ecosystem, the mountain range is also a home to Mandaya people, a dominant indigenous peoples tribe in Davao Oriental.
The indigenous peoples in the area have given consent to the mining company to mine nickel deposits.
Mayor Michelle Rabat here disclosed that the mining operation has the consent of the indigenous peoples since discussion to mine the area began more than 20 years ago.
Rabat, who belongs to a formidable political clan in the province, said that it was the indigenous peoples who wanted to mine the area.
“And they want it because they own it. And the role of the government is to ensure and to make sure that interest of these people is protected,” the mayor added.
She said that the mining project could provide employment not just to locals but also to other people outside of the community.
LADY slipper orchid of the genus Paphiopedilum (DENR Davao photo)
Datu Simplicio Mendoza, a member of the local tribal council, affirmed the mayor’s statement, saying that the mining company had secured the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from them.
“The mining company asked consent from us before embarking on any activity inside our ancestral domain,” Mendoza said.
The tribal leader admitted that they understand the risk of mining operations, particularly the destruction they may bring to the environment.
However, he is confident that the mining companies operating in their ancestral domain are employing responsible mining methods.
Moreover, the tribal leader believes that the mining project could help uplift the lives of the people in the village through the Social Development and Management Program (SDMP).
He cited the employment opportunities given to residents as well as the mining companies’ projects given to schools.
The tribal leader added that the mining company has provided them fruit tree seedlings and outriggers for fisherfolk.
Under the law, mining companies are required to allocate a percentage of their spending to their host communities, according to the SDMP.
DENR Administrative Order No. 2010-21 or the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 requires mining contractors and permit holders to allocate 1.5 percent of operating expenses to the SDMP.
According to the mining company, they are allocating P8 million to the SDMP for 2024.
Irreplaceable biodiversity
But regardless of the extent of deforestation, it would still mean loss of carbon sink given the importance of Mount Hamiguitan, said Ibañez.
He added that the mountain range is one of the most important carbon sinks in the region that could help mitigate the impact climate change.
But the seasoned conservationist is pinning his hopes on the government to religiously implement the law, its implementing rules and regulations, and the many technical bulletins and administrative orders that prescribe effective ways to lessen the blow of mining to biodiversity.
“I think what’s missing is the political will on the part of the government and regulating agencies to properly and faithfully implement these prescriptions,” he lamented.
Ibañez described the mountain range as a unique ecosystem because of ultramafic or bonsai forest.
“The stunted or dwarfed stature of its trees is due to its poor soils. Although the soils of the mountain is highly mineralized, and thus poor in nutrients, this depauperate soil and habitat conditions resulted to unique plant and animal adaptations that gave rise to new species that are found only at the site,” he said.
Called as site endemics, the PEF conservationist said among them are pitcher plants, species of lady slippers, a unique mistletoe, and a few unique rodents.
The presence of this site endemics, he said, makes the area irreplaceable from the point of view of conservation.
(This story was produced with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network)