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Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
This IBA includes a group of forest remnants on a limestone ridge adjacent to Iglit-Baco National Park, a few kilometres to the south of Siburan (PH042). The ridge peaks at just below 1,000 m, and is forested for several kilometres. Clearance has been very recent here, such that many big trees and residual patches of forest exist in the lowlands, especially along field edges and watercourses. Continuous forest is now only found on the sides of steep, narrow ridges. Here the forest was on very irregular broken ground, creating heterogeneous forest types with many areas of scrubby thickets and few tracts of tall shady forest.
All of the endemic lowland forest species of the Mindoro Endemic Bird Area have recently been recorded at Malpalon, although Mindoro Bleeding-heart is known from there only by unconfirmed reports. It is therefore of considerable conservation importance, despite the limited amount of undisturbed forest that remains there.
Non-bird biodiversity: A species of wild pig occurs at Malpalon, and Tamaraw Bubalus mindorensis was present there in the past and still occurs nearby.
This IBA includes a group of forest remnants on a limestone ridge adjacent to Iglit-Baco National Park, a few kilometres to the south of Siburan (PH042). The ridge peaks at just below 1,000 m, and is forested for several kilometres. Clearance has been very recent here, such that many big trees and residual patches of forest exist in the lowlands, especially along field edges and watercourses. Continuous forest is now only found on the sides of steep, narrow ridges. Here the forest was on very irregular broken ground, creating heterogeneous forest types with many areas of scrubby thickets and few tracts of tall shady forest.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There has been extensive clearance of forest for kaingin at Malpalon. Forest fires, spreading from areas of secondary growth and cogon (grassland), can be a serious risk in the dry season. Collection of firewood, rattan and bamboo was probably increasing with the population.
Hunting is claimed locally not to be serious, but snare traps for terrestrial animals are common, and spear traps for pigs are so numerous that it can be unsafe to leave any path in the area.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The most important areas are probably the remnant patches below 500 m, which will be all but impossible to protect by statutory means. The Kalikasan Mindoro Foundation has started an ambitious education programme there, centred on species such as the endemic birds and the Tamaraw, to make barangays and villages feel responsible for their remaining forests and to encourage more sustainable use.
This IBA is not officially protected, apart from a small area around Tusk Peak that lies within Iglit-Baco National Park.
A small area, mostly grassland, around Tusk Peak, is within Iglit-Baco National Park. Otherwise, apparently none of the area is protected, although some of it is afforded nominal protection as a "Catchment Forest".
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Malpalon (Philippines). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/malpalon-iba-philippines on 23/12/2024.
