Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Mt Calavite is on a mountainous headland at the north-western tip of Mindoro Island. Until recently the area was a wilderness, with the north and north-west sides forested to the beach, but much of the forest has been cleared for agriculture. There are now large tracts of cogonal grassland, with second growth lowland forest patches confined to gullies and very steep slopes.
Several hundred families reside inside Mt Calavite National Park, and most of them are engaged in farming. The area also has some value as a watershed and water source for the small town of Paluan.
Several of the threatened and restricted-range lowland forest species of the Mindoro Endemic Bird Area were collected on the west slope of Mt Calavite in the past. Although the area of lowland forest which remains there is probably small, it is likely that these forests are still important for the conservation of the highly threatened Mindoro endemics that are confined to lowland forest.
Non-bird biodiversity: There have been recent reports of sightings of the Mindoro endemic Tamaraw Bubalus mindorensis in Mt Calavite National Park.
Mt Calavite is on a mountainous headland at the north-western tip of Mindoro Island. Until recently the area was a wilderness, with the north and north-west sides forested to the beach, but much of the forest has been cleared for agriculture. There are now large tracts of cogonal grassland, with second growth lowland forest patches confined to gullies and very steep slopes.
Several hundred families reside inside Mt Calavite National Park, and most of them are engaged in farming. The area also has some value as a watershed and water source for the small town of Paluan.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There are a number of potential threats to the forests at this site. On the Occidental side of Mindoro, perennial fires in the grasslands adjoining forests have eroded the buffer zones of open canopy second growth forest or brush around them. Most of the grasslands are being used as pasture, and regular burning is the conventional practice used to encourage the growth of young grass shoots. These are often left to spread into the forest, which is slowly decimating all remaining forests.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Surveys are required in this IBA, to investigate both the extent and quality of the remaining habitats and the current status of the threatened and restricted-range birds and other biodiversity.
Mt Calavite and FB Harrison were declared together as a game refuge and bird sanctuary by virtue of Executive Order No. 9 on 28 January 1920. They are now proposed as a wildlife sanctuary under the NIPAS. Mt Calavite National Park (17,000 ha) was declared by Executive Order No. 9 on 26 January 1925.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Calavite (Philippines). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-calavite-iba-philippines on 23/12/2024.
