Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Mt Timolan is c.20 km inland from Pagadian City, to the south of Mt Sugarloaf (PH109). It rises to just over 1,000 m. Lowland forest is reported to cover c.80% of the area and there are also areas of secondary grassland. There are numerous rivers and streams and freshwater lakes and pools that provide habitat for water birds, including Lake Timolan, which has been transformed into a marshy area. Arable land is present, and is planted with perennial crops and orchards.
The forests serve as watershed for surrounding lowland communities and contains the headwaters of the Dinas and Labangan Rivers.
The avifauna of Mt Timolan is poorly known, although there are several recent records of Philippine Eagle and the forests there are probably an important part of the network of sites required for the conservation of that critically endangered species. The lowland forests which are reported to survive there may support populations of the threatened and restricted-range species of the Mindanao and Eastern Visayas Endemic Bird Area, including some that have been recorded on the lower slopes of nearby Mt Sugarloaf (PH109) and Mt Malindang (PH107).
Non-bird biodiversity: Other wildlife reported in the area includes Philippine Tarsier Tarsius syrichta, Philippine warty pig Sus philippensis, squirrels, probably Exilisciurus concinnus and Sundasciurus philippinensis, common palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus and monitor lizard Varanus salvator.
Mt Timolan is c.20 km inland from Pagadian City, to the south of Mt Sugarloaf (PH109). It rises to just over 1,000 m. Lowland forest is reported to cover c.80% of the area and there are also areas of secondary grassland. There are numerous rivers and streams and freshwater lakes and pools that provide habitat for water birds, including Lake Timolan, which has been transformed into a marshy area. Arable land is present, and is planted with perennial crops and orchards.
The forests serve as watershed for surrounding lowland communities and contains the headwaters of the Dinas and Labangan Rivers.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Current problems in the area include kaingin, encroachment into the forest, the presence of small settlements and the hunting of birds.
A relay station of the Philippine army was constructed on Timolan peak in 1990. The army personnel used to shoot wildlife, but this stopped when the site was declared a protected area.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The local citizens persuaded the provincial government to pass an ordinance protecting the area in 1992, to control widespread extraction of timber, illegal logging and wood smuggling.
The CENRO-Pagadian has proposed Mt Timolan as a protected landscape under the NIPAS because of its importance as a watershed and an area with endemic wildlife. There is currently no management plan for the site, and a wildlife documentation, which is part of the required PASA report for the NIPAS proposal, is now being conducted. The public hearing has been completed.
The DENR and provincial government have established an on-going reforestation project. It is planted with exotic species like Gmelina and mahogany, which are probably of limited value to the native wildlife, but there are also some fruit trees and dipterocarp species that may provide some valuable new habitats.
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.
The Mt Timolan area was declared a provincial park and wildlife sanctuary in 1992 by the provincial government through Provincial Ordinance No. 3.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Timolan (Philippines). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-timolan-iba-philippines on 22/11/2024.
