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Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Kalbario-Patapat National Park is on Pasaleng Bay, about 72 km north-west of Laoag City and 185 km west of Aparri. It is easily accessible, as it is adjacent to a national highway. Its topography is generally mountainous with rugged, steep terrain. Along the coast, there are white sandy beaches, sand dunes, rock formations and good diving sites. Inland, there are extensive old growth dipterocarp forests, including both lowland and mossy montane forest, and areas of cultivation and secondary growth. The forests of this IBA are probably continuations with forest stands within the Cordillera Administrative Region, and there may be potential to extend the IBA boundaries further to the east into the CAR.
The forests of this IBA are important for the water supply to lowland agriculture and power generation projects, such as a mini-hydro plant in Pagudpud. This area has considerable potential for tourism, given the variety of natural features and the relatively easy access.
Many of the threatened and restricted-range birds of the Luzon Endemic Bird Area have been recorded in or near to Kalbario-Patapat National Park. Further ornithological exploration of the extensive forests that remain in and around this IBA would almost certainly locate more of these species, and the montane avifauna may prove to be comparable to that of Mt Pulog National Park (PH004) further south in the Cordillera Central. The most intensely studied site in this part of the Cordillera Central is Mt Sicapo-o on the Ilocos Norte-Kalinga-Apayao border, but it is reported that this mountain has been largely deforested. The mammalian fauna in the area has never been surveyed.
Non-bird biodiversity: The mammalian fauna in the area has never been surveyed.
Kalbario-Patapat National Park is on Pasaleng Bay, about 72 km north-west of Laoag City and 185 km west of Aparri. It is easily accessible, as it is adjacent to a national highway. Its topography is generally mountainous with rugged, steep terrain. Along the coast, there are white sandy beaches, sand dunes, rock formations and good diving sites. Inland, there are extensive old growth dipterocarp forests, including both lowland and mossy montane forest, and areas of cultivation and secondary growth. The forests of this IBA are probably continuations with forest stands within the Cordillera Administrative Region, and there may be potential to extend the IBA boundaries further to the east into the CAR.
There are extensive forests in adjacent parts of Cagayan and Kalinga Apayao Provinces, and it may be appropriate to extend the boundaries of this IBA (and possibly the proposed Natural Park) into these provinces. Surveys are required to establish the extent and quality of the remaining habitats in and around the IBA, and to assess the current status of the threatened and restricted-range birds and other biodiversity there.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Upland farming is not as prevalent in this area as further south in the Cordillera Central, for example in Mountain or Benguet provinces. However, the high demand for fuelwood in Ilocos Norte has resulted in serious degradation of the remaining forest stands. The collection of forest products and hunting are considered to be problems in the proposed Natural Park, and there is some encroachment into the forests for kaingin.
Kalbario-Papapat National Park is proposed as a new protected area under NIPAS, in the category of Natural Park.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kalbario-Patapat National Park (Philippines). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kalbario-patapat-national-park-iba-philippines on 22/11/2024.
