PH030
Mount Kulasi


Site description (2001 baseline):

Site location and context
Mt Kulasi is in eastern Camarines Norte province, on the border with Camarines Sur. A block of old growth forest is shown around the mountain on recent forest cover maps, but other reports suggest that much of this forest is degraded. A part of Mt Kulasi lies within Bicol Nature Reserve, where the habitats present include lowland evergreen rain forest (now largely cleared or degraded), secondary grassland, agricultural land, plantations, small settlements and rural gardens. The area of old growth dipterocarp forest remaining in the park was recently estimated at 792 ha. The main landuses within the park are forestry and permanent agriculture. The park includes the Lupi-Libmonan-Sipocot Watershed.

Key biodiversity
The avifauna of Mt Kulasi is very poorly known, but several of the threatened and restricted-range species of the Luzon Endemic Bird Area are recorded from Bicol Nature Reserve, and presumably occur in the IBA.

Habitat and land use
Mt Kulasi is in eastern Camarines Norte province, on the border with Camarines Sur. A block of old growth forest is shown around the mountain on recent forest cover maps, but other reports suggest that much of this forest is degraded. A part of Mt Kulasi lies within Bicol Nature Reserve, where the habitats present include lowland evergreen rain forest (now largely cleared or degraded), secondary grassland, agricultural land, plantations, small settlements and rural gardens. The area of old growth dipterocarp forest remaining in the park was recently estimated at 792 ha. The main landuses within the park are forestry and permanent agriculture. The park includes the Lupi-Libmonan-Sipocot Watershed.

Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Bicol National Park is under persistent pressure from logging activities, which has reduced the forest cover there. Other pressures include agricultural expansion and intensification, the collection of forest products, charcoal making and development. The parts of the IBA outside the park presumably face similar pressures

Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Given the dependence of several communities on the natural resources in this IBA, a socio-economic program is required to regulate their use. Surveys are required in this IBA, to investigate both the extent and quality of the remaining habitats, and whether it supports important populations of threatened and restricted-range birds and other biodiversity.

Protected areas
Part of this IBA lies within Bicol National Park (4,225 ha), which was declared by Proc. No. 657 on 13 February 1934 and Proc. No. 655 (5,201 ha) on 23 December 1940.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Kulasi (Philippines). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-kulasi-iba-philippines on 22/11/2024.