Bicol National Park gets new lease on life

MANILA, Philippines - Bicol National Park in Basud town will get a new lease on life as provincial officials of Camarines Norte, led by Gov. Edgardo Tallado and Vice Gov. Jonah Pimentel, launched a major reforestation program.

The officials also made a symbolic gesture of embracing Bicol’s Mother Tree, Bicol’s oldest and tallest tree, to signify their commitment to the reforestation campaign.  The 150-year-old tree, the core of the 5,201-hectare park, is a 44-meter red lauan (shorea negrosensis) which is 17 feet at its widest part.

The park, which straddles the provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, is one of the country’s richest rainforests and is home to 190 terrestrial species of wildlife, 18 mammals, 120 birds, 22 amphibians and 30 reptiles, most of them endemic to the region. It is also sanctuary to endangered wildlife species such as the Luzon hornbill, Grays monitor lizard, Woodworths frog, and the Southern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rat.

According to Tallado, the provincial government will augment the personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources by increasing the number of local Bantay Gubat volunteers and provide logistical support to improve its efficiency in protecting the park.

He said elements of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be deputized to enforce environment laws.

Tallado added that the 5,000 seedlings planted in the park will be monitored by forest personnel to ensure their survival.

More than 3,000 civil servants, members of civic and religious organizations, students and barangay officials participated in the massive tree-planting event as part of the recent celebration of the 110^th founding anniversary of the Civil Service Commission.