The watershed is one of Metro Manila’s major source of drinking water. The Lopez Group of Companies has been pushing to have the watershed declared a protected area by the government because it is in danger from encroaching urban development.
Eduardo Pardo, park administrator, said the area has undergone improvement for the past two years, adding that the Lopez Picnic Grounds will become an additional attraction and source of income that will go to the watershed’s maintenance.
Gina Lopez, managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation, said the picnic ground was also meant to promote environmental awareness.
"We needed to have some revenues to sustain the watershed because the donations we got are only good for three years," Lopez said. "I thought of developing the park and the vision is to create the 33-hectare a microcosm of what we want the world to be known, clean and people have respect for the environment."
About P11 million is needed to sustain the 2,700-hectare park. The park is a recreational destination for families on weekends. Lopez said it can also be a perfect place for campers. "They will only pay P500 for the whole night."
Pardo said the entrance fee for Quezon City residents and students is only P20; while P50 for visitors from other areas.
He said more than P60 million was already invested for the park’s restoration.
Lopez said they are targeting some P6 million revenues this year. So far they have already made P2.5 million.
In 1999, the Eco Park Foundation, led by Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., MWSS administrator Orly Hondrade, and ABS-CBN’s Bantay Kalikasan environment watchdog foundation spearheaded the reforestation campaign of the watershed and rehabilitation of the park.
As of now, 92 percent of the 1,500-hectare watershed has been reforested by Bantay Kalikasan and the remaining 100 hectares will be completed soon.
The forest served as a home for many new and returning species, Lopez said. The La Mesa Watershed covers 2,700 hectares, of which 2,000 hectares are forest land and and the rest is a lake.
The La Mesa Park, which is in Fairview in Quezon City, was famous for its rich biodiversity of plants and species. But in 1990s more than half of the forest has been wiped out and only three foreign species of trees were left.