Mount Mantalingajan

The Natural Park of Mount Mantalinganhan Protected Landscape, short MMPL is located 140 km southwest of Puerto Princesa, the capital of the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It was established on 23 June 2009 by Decree 1815. The nature park is bounded by the height of Victoria in the north and Mount Bulanjao in the south and covers an area of ​​120 457 hectares. The spatial extent is defined by the 8 ° 40'28 " to 9 ° 9'53 " north latitude and from 117 ° 26'55 " to 117 ° 59'52 " east longitude. There are different spellings of the name Mantalinganhan, the name also Mantalingahan or Mantalingajan is written, which is due to the different languages ​​of the Philippines.

Topography & Geology

The area of the nature park is described as very jagged, some gradients reach 50 % slope and some gradients of 36 % slope have a length of about 300 meters. The Mantalinganhan reaches a height of 2085 meters above sea level. The rock is referred to as unfolded karstic limestone, in the municipality of Quezon there are some caves. The rocks of the higher areas around the Malik and Mantalinganhan peaks are referred to as the ophiolite complexes. According to the USDA soil classification soils are classified as Entisole there with a low pH - value, which have a high nutritional content. Be found on the eastern side of the massif also rock bands of various gypsum formations and the fertility of the soil is referred to as mediocre.

Climate

The climate of Southern Palawan is known as extremely humid, with heavy rainfall cases of May to November and light rains from January to April. The average rainfall is 1,500 mm / year in the coastal and lowland areas. Temperatures range from 20 to 30 degrees Celsius in the lower altitudes of the mountains.

The area around the Mantalinganhan is referred to as a water- rich, so lie within the territory of the nature park Mantalinganhan alone 33 sources of 60 rivers and streams in southern Palawan.

Flora & Fauna

In the Natural Park of Mount Mantalinganhan 11 different vegetation types are described, one of which alone constitutes the forest area over 100,000 hectares or 79 % of the total. Three different zones of the forest area is covered with a core forests. The lowlands of the Natural Park are but treeless, so that the trees on the solid Mantalinganhan limited.

The nature park is an important part to conserve biodiversity on the island of Palawan and the Philippines. So 351 plant species from 92 different plant families are described in the field of Mantalinganhan alone. The survey in 2007 8 species were designated as not scientifically described and 5 species were described as new, on the island of Palawan. From this count in the summit region, around 2000 meters, occurring Nepenthes mantalingajanensis was first described.

It will be referred to a total of 16 plant species as crop plants.

The wooded areas of Mantalinganhan have a spatially varying species composition of trees, as can be found in the areas that are the communities Rizal and Quezon to the north belonging to the following dominant species: the Ipil ( Intsia bijuga ), a teak tree of the Red on the international list is classified as endangered. The NATO ( Palaqiuum luzoniense ), a certificate from the family of Sapotengewächse Art The Manggis ( Koompassia excelsa ) an endangered tropical tree, the Apitong ( Dipterocarpus grandiflorus ), the Amugis ( Koordersiodendron pinnatum ), the Malugai ( Pometia pinnata ), the Durian ( Durio zibethinus ) and the Dao ( dao Dracontomelum ). On the southern side of the nature park in the area of places Sofronio Española, Brooke 's Point and Bataraza additionally the types Lomarao ( Casuariana equisetifolia ) come before ( Swintonia foxworthy ) and the Agoho del Monte. The fauna in the park is equally rich in species, so there are 95 species of vertebrates, including 19 species of mammals, 45 species of birds. 23 species of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians. Of the species occurring in the nature park are 16 designated as endemic.