Sibalom Natural Park is a protected area in the Philippines on the island of

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

in the municipality of

Sibalom Sibalom, officially the Municipality of Sibalom, ( krj, Banwa kang Sibalom; hil, Banwa sang Sibalom; tl, Bayan ng Sibalom), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Antique, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population ...

Antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

. It was proclaimed a natural park on 23 April 2000. It is considered one of the last remaining lowland rainforests on Panay. The park was first established on 28 June 1990 as the ''Tipulu-an Mau-it Rivers Watershed Forest Reserve'' covering of an important watershed.

Geography

Sibalom Natural Park extends over sixteen

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolit ...

s (village) in Sibalom. It is located east from Antique's provincial capital,

San Jose de Buenavista San Jose de Buenavista, officially the Municipality of San Jose de Buenavista, ( krj, Banwa kang San Jose de Buenavista; hil, Banwa sang San Jose de Buenavista; tl, Bayan ng San Jose de Buenavista), is a 1st class municipality and capital of th ...

, and some west from

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of ...

. The park is organized around the watershed area of the

Tipulu-an River The Tipulu-an River is a tributary of the Sibalom River located in Antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least ...

and

Mao-it River The Mao-it River is a tributary of the Sibalom River located in Antique province in the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, ...

which are tributaries of the

Sibalom River The Sibalom River is the longest river in the province of Antique in Panay island Philippines. With a total length of and a drainage basin covering , it is the largest river system in Antique and fourth longest in Panay after the Panay River ...

. It has seven other

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

which provide drinking water for five municipalities and irrigate some of riceland in four municipalities of Antique. Mount Porras at is the highest peak in the area and is located at the park's center.

Forest

The park has a mild

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

, a lowland forest, some bushland and open cogon or grassland. Its riverbeds contain semi-precious gemstones such as

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in ...

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

and

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

. About 5,000 hectares of forest in Sibalom from Mount Porras extending to

Mount Igmatindog Mount Igmatindog is a mountain peak in the ''Tipulu-an Mau-it Rivers Watershed Forest Reserve'', now known as Sibalom Natural Park. Sibalom Natural Park is located in the municipality of Sibalom, Antique, Panay Panay is the sixth-largest a ...

, covers Sibalom River and its tributaries. Of this forest, 672 hectares are undisturbed by any human activity while about 4,223 hectares constitutes the 50-year-old reforestation site.

Wildlife

The park serves as a corridor between two important bird areas on the island, the

Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park The Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park is located on the island of Panay, in the provinces of Aklan and Antique of the Philippines which was proclaimed a natural park by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on 18 April 2002 (Presidential Proclam ...

and the

Central Panay Mountain Range Central Panay Mountain Range is the longest and largest mountain range in the island of Panay and Western Visayas in the Philippines. With a total length of long north–south and width east–west. Mount Madja-as is the highest point with ...

. It supports 76 bird species, 28 of which are endemic to the Philippines including the

Negros bleeding-heart The Negros bleeding-heart pigeon (''Gallicolumba keayi'') is endemic to the Philippines where it is found on the islands of Negros and Panay. It is critically endangered; continuing rates of forest loss on the two islands where it occurs suggest ...

, Walden's hornbill, Visayan hornbill,

brahminy kite The brahminy kite (''Haliastur indus''), formerly known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harrie ...

, blue-naped parrot, white-winged cuckooshrike and

eastern grass owl The eastern grass owl (''Tyto longimembris''), also known as Chinese grass owl or Australian grass owl, is a species of owl in the family Tytonidae. They feed predominantly on small rodents. Though some authorities consider this owl to be consp ...

. Other endemic fauna known to inhabit the park include the Visayan spotted deer,

Visayan warty pig The Visayan warty pig (''Sus cebifrons'') is a critically endangered species in the pig genus (''Sus''). It is endemic to six of the Visayan Islands (Cebu, Negros, Panay, Masbate, Guimaras, and Siquijor) in the central Philippines. It is know ...

, and some herpetofaunal species such as the

giant Visayan frog The giant Visayan frog (''Limnonectes visayanus'') is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is endemic to the Philippines, and is known from Masbate, Cebu, Negros, Guimaras, Panay, and Siquijor islands. Its natural habitats are su ...

, Negros truncated-toed chorus frog, collared monitor lizard and

Philippine sailfin lizard The Philippine sailfin lizard (''Hydrosaurus pustulatus''), also known as crested lizard, sail-fin lizard, sailfin water lizard, soa-soa water lizard or its native name ''ibid'', is an oviparous lizard endemic to several of the islands that make ...

Flora

One of the main highlights is the large flower ''

Rafflesia speciosa ''Rafflesia speciosa'' is a parasitic plant species of the genus ''Rafflesia''. It is endemic to the Philippine island of Panay. ''R. speciosa'' is the third ''Rafflesia'' species documented to exist in the Philippines, after '' R. manillana'' a ...

'', discovered in Mount Porras and surrounding barangays in 2002 The Philippine dipterocarp trees such as white lauan and apitong, and fruit trees such as

antipolo Antipolo, officially known as the City of Antipolo ( fil, Lungsod ng Antipolo), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 887,399 people. It is the m ...

and malapaho are found in the forests of Sibalom. The globally endangered giant flower, the

, also blooms in the park.

References

{{Protected areas in Western Visayas Natural parks of the Philippines Birdwatching sites in the Philippines Geography of Antique (province) Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in the Philippines Tourist attractions in Antique (province)

Geography

Forest

Wildlife

Flora

See also

References