The Maulawin Spring Protected Landscape is a

protected landscape IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

area of forested hills and several rivers and streams located in the province of

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

on southern

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

island in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It was originally created in 1939 to protect the watershed in the municipality of

Guinayangan Guinayangan, officially the Municipality of Guinayangan (), is a municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,045 people. The municipality is home to the Maulawin Spring Protected ...

known as the Maulawin Spring Watershed Forest Reserve declared through Proclamation No. 365 by President

Manuel Luis Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his de ...

. It had an initial area of . In 2000, the forest reserve was enlarged and was redesignated as a protected landscape under the National Integrated Protected Areas System by virtue of Proclamation No. 295 issued by President

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

. It is the only source of potable water for domestic consumption of the more than 40,000 residents of Guinayangan.

Geography

The Maulawin Spring Protected Landscape covers an area of of lowland forest in the

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s of Himbubulo, San Pedro and Magsaysay in west-central Guinayangan. It sits on a hilly terrain in the eastern portion of the Tayabas Isthmus and the northeastern extreme of

Bondoc Peninsula The Bondoc Peninsula (commonly known as BonPen) is a narrow peninsula located in the southeastern part of Quezon Province in Calabarzon Region, southern part of Luzon, Philippines. The peninsula consists of 12 municipalities: Agdangan, Buenavi ...

near Guinayangan's border with the municipalities of

Calauag Calauag, officially the Municipality of Calauag (; ), is a municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,809 people. History According to the writings of Valentin Martin in his " ...

and Lopez. The park is traversed by several rivers and creeks, some of which dry up during the summer months and which empty into the Catabangan Bay and

Ragay Gulf Ragay Gulf is a large gulf in the Bicol Peninsula in Luzon, part of the Sibuyan Sea. It is separated from Tayabas Bay by the Bondoc Peninsula in the west. The gulf covers the provinces of Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ...

, including the Maulawin River, Hiwasayan River, Tubog Creek and Prenza River. These rivers supply water for the Guinayangan Water District. The topography of the park is characterized as a complex of land configuration ranging from slightly level, sloping to rolling, and steep to hilly and rugged mountains. It has an elevation of between and above sea level and is composed primarily of

clay loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

. The park is located about west of the Guinayangan

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

and some east of the provincial capital city of

Lucena Lucena (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially known as the City of Lucena (), is a highly urbanized city situated in the Calabarzon region (Region IV-A) of the Philippines. The city is the largest urban center and capital of ...

. It is surrounded by private agricultural lands and coconut plantations in Ermita, San Roque, Dungawan and Sisi. It is accessible via the provincial road to Guinayangan from the

Pan-Philippine Highway The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway (; ), is a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in the Philippines, serving as the country's p ...

(AH26) in Calauag, thence by foot through numerous trails from barangays Sisi and Calimpak.

Biodiversity

The park is a forested area with sixty percent of its territory inhabited by

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

trees, including molave, ''

kamagong ''Diospyros blancoi'', (synonym ''Diospyros discolor''), commonly known as velvet apple, velvet persimmon, kamagong, or mabolo tree, is a tree of the genus ''Diospyros'' of ebony trees and persimmons. It produces edible fruit with a fine, velvet ...

'', guijo, red lauan, and white lauan, '' yakal'' and '' manggachapui''. It is home to a diverse bird species, such as the

Philippine dwarf kingfisher The Philippine dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx melanurus'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Luzon, Polillo Islands, Catanduanes, Basilan, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Its natural h ...

rufous hornbill The rufous hornbill (''Buceros hydrocorax''), also known as the Philippine hornbill and locally as kalaw (pronounced KAH-lau), is a large species of hornbill endemic to the Philippines (the largest hornbill in the country). They are referred by l ...

, northern sooty woodpecker,

black-naped oriole The black-naped oriole (''Oriolus chinensis'') is a passerine bird in the oriole family that is found in many parts of Asia. There are several distinctive populations within the wide distribution range of this species and in the past the slende ...

, Philippine coucal,

jungle crow Jungle crow is a common name that refers to three species of crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "rav ...

coleto The coleto (''Sarcops calvus'') is a starling species (family (biology), family Sturnidae) in the monotypic genus ''Sarcops''. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, tropical dry forest, su ...

black-winged kite The black-winged kite (''Elanus caeruleus''), also known as the black-shouldered kite (not to be confused with the closely-related Australian species of the same name), is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for it ...

and

Philippine collared dove The Philippine collared dove (''Streptopelia dusumieri'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the island collared dove (''S. bitorquata''). The species occurs in the Philippines where it is c ...

. It also supports some large mammals, including the

crab-eating macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settlem ...

Philippine deer The Philippine deer (''Rusa marianna''), also known as the Philippine sambar or Philippine brown deer, is a vulnerable deer species endemic to the Philippines. It was first described from introduced populations in the Mariana Islands, hence t ...

Philippine warty pig The Philippine warty pig (''Sus philippensis'') is one of four known species in the pig genus ('' Sus'') endemic to the Philippines. They have tufts of hair on the top of their head and on the lower sides of their jaws, as well as four warts on t ...

Asian palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad range o ...

, as well several bats and snakes.

References

{{Protected areas in CALABARZON Protected landscapes of the Philippines Springs of the Philippines Geography of Quezon Landforms of Quezon Protected areas established in 1939 1939 establishments in the Philippines

Geography

Biodiversity

See also

References