HUNGDUAN, Ifugao -- The Municipal Government has requested the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to delineate and classify Mt. Napulawan a mossy and communal forest in efforts to ban invasive foreign tree species in the Greening Program of the government and to promote and enhance indigenous species.
The request initiated by Councilor Marvin Pawid through a resolution approved by the Municipal Council also seeks to integrate the traditional and indigenous forest management and conservation system of the Ifugaos called the "Muyung System" to sustain the ecological balance, bio-diversity and mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
The move in effect repeals the earlier resolution, which demarcates and characterizes Mt. Napulawan as a natural park and possible inclusion as one of the natural parks of the country.
Pawid said he initiated the request because the SB believes that local community involvement is the best approach in the management of Mt. Napulawan as a tourist attraction and destination with careful supervision of the local government unit and other concerned national agencies.
He added the body believes the mountain existed and survived for decades because of the sustainable and traditional ways of forest management and preservation of the natural resources from the local populace who have ancestral claims over some areas of the place.
Mt. Napulawan towering at 2,642 meters above sea level, is the second highest mountain in Ifugao. Said to be the last refuge of the Japanese Imperial Army led by the “Tiger of Malaya”, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Mt. Napulawan has mossy forest with abundant flora and fauna. (Daniel Codamon)