Country/territory: Philippines
IBA criteria met: A1, A2 (2001)
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Area: 5,676 ha
Site description (2001 baseline)
Maria Aurora Memorial Park lies inland from the towns of Baler and Maria Aurora in central Aurora Province and eastern Nueva Ecija, close to the border with Nueva Vizcaya. It is a short distance to the north of Mt Dingalan (PH018). The main habitats in the park are lowland rainforest, montane forest and secondary scrub, and there are also areas of arable land (including rice paddies), small settlements and rural gardens. The maximum altitude of the park is reported to be 1,000 m, so the main forest type inside the park must be lowland dipterocarp, with only limited areas of montane forest. Land uses inside the park include both permanent and shifting agriculture (kaingin) and forestry.
Key biodiversity
Several of the threatened and restricted-range species of the Luzon Endemic Bird Area have been recorded in or near to Maria Aurora Memorial Park. The recent sightings of Philippine Eagle there suggest that this IBA is an important part of the network of sites required to conserve the population of that species in the Sierra Madre mountains. Limited information is available on the status of other threatened or restricted-range birds in the park, but, like other IBAs in the Sierra Madre, it is likely that the avifauna there will prove to be similar to that of Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (PH015).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Aurora Memorial National Park (Philippines). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/aurora-memorial-national-park-iba-philippines on 22/11/2024.