Lake Balinsasayao is one of three

crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ) is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the Western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is a tourist attraction for its deep blue color and water clarity. T ...

s rising above sea level located within the

Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park is a List of protected areas of the Philippines, natural park in the Philippines surrounding Lake Balinsasayao and Lake Danao (Negros), Lake Danao in the province of Negros Oriental, west of Dumaguete. It co ...

, an protected area covering the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Sibulan Sibulan, officially the Municipality of Sibulan (; ), is a municipality in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,343 people. Sibulan is from Dumaguete. It is the location of Du ...

, and San Jose in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Negros Oriental Negros Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Oriental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete, one of the two regional centers of Negros Island Region, with the other b ...

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 ...

. The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is now listed The Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park among new parks to its network of topnotch nature reserves and natural parks in the Southeast Asian region in 2024.

Etymology

The name of Lake Balinsasayao is the Spanish transcription of Cebuano ''balinsasayaw'' meaning "

swiftlet Swiftlets are birds from the four genera ''Aerodramus'', ''Collocalia'', ''Hydrochous'' and ''Schoutedenapus'', which form the tribe (biology), tribe Collocaliini within the swift (bird), swift family (biology), family Apodidae. The group contain ...

." The name of its "twin", Lake Danao, is derived from Cebuano ''danaw'' meaning "lake."

History

Lake Balinsasayao, Lake Danao, and Kabalin-an pond are part of Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park, a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

totaling created on 21 November 2000 by virtue of ''Proclamation No. 414'' signed by former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 lies within the

, and San Jose in the

Geography

The lakes are situated northwest of a narrow

mountain ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

, in a

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

formed by four mountains: Mount Mahungot to the south, Mount Kalbasan to the north, Mount Balinsasayao to the east and Guintabon Dome to the west. A normal fault separates Lakes Balinsasayao and Danao while and another fault, the Amlan, is about west of Danao. Four geologic faults also intersect the southern edge of Lake Danao, whose water level is lower than that of Balinsasayao.

Flora and fauna

As a protected natural park home to an expansive

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

and

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

, Balinsasayao Twin Lakes National Park is one of the major tourist attractions in

. The lake has a rich fish fauna and the surrounding

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 ...

forests are rich in bird life. However, invasive fish species such as

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically mos ...

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

, mudfish,

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

mosquito fish The western mosquitofish (''Gambusia affinis'') is a North American freshwater poeciliid fish, also known commonly, if ambiguously, as simply mosquitofish or by its generic name, ''Gambusia'', or by the common name gambezi. Its sister species ...

and

milkfish The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is a widespread species of ray-finned fish found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is the sole living species in the family Chanidae, and the only living member of the genus ''Chanos''. The repeating scientific na ...

have been introduced in the lake.

Tourism

The

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; ) is the Executive Departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the cou ...

(DENR) through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) manages tourist activities in the natural park. The bureau allows, sightseeing, mountain trekking, camping, birdwatching, paddle boating in Lake Balinsasayao. The natural park has a concrete view deck, umbrella cottages, a restaurant, a souvenir shop, restrooms, and a visitor center.

Conservation

Conserving the natural park's flora and fauna is a continuing struggle as surrounding forests are exploited for timber and charcoal production. The uncontrolled cutting of timber by

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

farmers or ''kaingineros'' is reducing the inflow of water to the lakes and causing a fall in water levels. Also, since the lakes are situated near Energy Development Corporation (EDC)'s Southern Negros Geothermal Field in

, the forest surrounding the lakes are under threat from constant geothermal drilling. A co-management plan for geothermal preservation has been drafted by the DENR-PENRO, EDC, and the local governments of

and

References

External links

*
Presidential Proclamation No. 414, s. of 2000

The Twin Lakes of Negros

Protected Areas of the Philippines
{{Lakes of the Philippines Balinsasayao Balinsasayao Landforms of Negros Oriental Tourist attractions in Negros Oriental