Aliwagwag Protected Landscape | |
---|---|
Aliwagwag Falls | |
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
Location | Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental, Philippines |
Nearest city | Bislig |
Coordinates | 7°44′35″N 126°17′56″E / 7.74306°N 126.29889°E |
Area | 10,491.33 hectares (25,924.6 acres) |
Established | April 5, 2011 |
Governing body | Department of Environment and Natural Resources |
The Aliwagwag Protected Landscape is a protected area that preserves a major drainage catchment in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in the Davao Region. It contains the headwaters of the Cateel River in the southern Diuata Mountain Range which provides the water source and irrigation for surrounding rice fields and communities in Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental provinces. It was named after the remote rural village in the municipality of Cateel where Aliwagwag Falls, the country's highest waterfall, is located.[1]
The protected landscape is part of the Philippines' National Integrated Protected Areas System and was established in 2011 through Proclamation No. 139 issued by President Benigno Aquino III.[2] It was initially a component of the 1,927,400-hectare (4,763,000-acre) Agusan–Davao–Surigao Forest Reserve declared in 1931 through Proclamation No. 369 by Governor-General Dwight F. Davis which underwent several amendments over the years to open up a few areas in the mineral rich watershed to mining.[3][4] The protected landscape was ultimately declared a national park under Republic Act No. 11038 (Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018) signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in July 2018.[5]