Governor orders crackdown on mining in Davao Oriental wildlife sanctuary

DAVAO ORIENTAL, Philippines – Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon on Wednesday, June 6, ordered a crackdown on illegal mining operations within the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary as she vowed to protect the UNESCO-listed world heritage site “at all costs.”

Malanyaon said the provincial government would scale up environmental law enforcement within the nearly 32,000-hectare mountain range.

“The Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary is the pride of Davao Oriental. No other province in Mindanao has that kind of attraction. We will never allow mining inside that mountain range,” said Malanyaon.

Malanyaon said the capitol was organizing a group that would strictly implement and enforce laws for the protection of the mountain range.

The provincial government would promote the mountain range as a major ecotourism destination in Mindanao, she said.

She also said the capitol would review Davao Oriental’s mining laws, and see if stricter measures need to be taken.

But Malanyaon is faced with a problem bigger than illegal mining alone.

In 2021, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said at least six large-scale mining companies have secured concessions, covering some 17,175 hectares, which account for more than half the total size of the Mount Hamiguitan range. 

The mining operations have been going on for decades, mostly within lowland forests close to the Pujada Bay Protected Seascape in Mati City.

Aside from mining, the DENR said slash-and-burn farming, commercial agriculture, illegal logging, and even road constructions were slowly destroying the key biodiversity area. 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included the mountain range in its list of world heritage sites in 2014.

Mount Hamiguitan, which has a peak of 1,641 meters above sea level, rests on a narrow peninsula between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Davao Gulf to the west, at the southern tip of the eastern Mindanao biodiversity corridor. 

The mountain range covers 31,879 hectares of beaches, lowlands, montane, and mossy forests on an island known for its serpentine or bonsai forests. It is under the political jurisdictions of Mati City and the towns of San Isidro, and Governor Generoso.

Malanyaon said the protection and preservation of Mount Hamiguitan would bring economic benefits to Davao Oriental through tourism.

“Its ecological and aesthetic importance holds a bundle of solutions to local poverty,” she said.

Malanyaon said the capitol would collaborate with the Department of Tourism (DOT) to turn the wildlife sanctuary into one of the top ecotourism destinations in the country. – Rappler.com