Mounts Iglit–Baco National Park

View of the Iglit and Baco mountains from Aguas, Rizal

The national park lies in the south-central area of Mindoro and is politically divided between the municipalities of Sablayan, Calintaan, Rizal and San Jose in Occidental Mindoro, and the municipalities of Bongabong and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro.[4] It has a rugged terrain composed of slopes, river gorges, mountains and plateaus. In the park's northern portion, Mount Baco rises to an elevation of 2,488 metres (8,163 ft) above sea level. Mount Iglit reaches 2,364 metres (7,756 ft) and can be found south of Mount Baco.[3] The park is crossed by eight major river systems, including the Lamintao and Anahawin Rivers which empty into the West Philippine Sea. It is home to four ethnic groups on the island: the Batangas Tagalog, Mangyan, Hanunu'o and Bangan.[5] The Mangyans depend on the park for their subsistence, where they engage in traditional farming and hunting for food. There are also areas of grasslands turned into pastures, as well as areas of slash-and-burn agriculture.[5]

The park's vegetation consists primarily of grasslands, lowland Dipterocarp forests, and montane rainforests on the higher slopes. In the park's southern portion near the Lamintao River is a 367-hectare (910-acre) block of Acacia forest. There is also an area of Agoho forest along the Anahawin River within the Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm ecotourism site. The rest of the lowland portions are open grasslands. The most extensive forests in the national park are in the remote northern portion in the area of Mount Baco.[5]

A small group of tamaraw bulls at the Mounts Iglit–Baco National Park

The park is the habitat of the endemic tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis), a small, hoofed mammal of the bovid family unique to the Philippines. It is one of the most seriously endangered animals in the world. It was for this reason that the park was established, first as a game refuge and bird sanctuary in 1969 with an initial area of 8,956 hectares (22,130 acres), then as a national park increasing its size a year later.

The biggest population of tamaraw can be found in the open grasslands of the national park. It contains the Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm, an off-site breeding facility established in 1980 under the Tamaraw Conservation Program in Manoot, Rizal. In April 2018, 523 tamaraws were spotted in the protected area.[6] This is up from 327 spotted in 2012.[7]

Mounts Iglit–Baco National Park is part of the sacred ancestral lands of both the Tao Buid Mangyans and the Buhid Mangyans. In Philippine mythology, for the Tao Buid of the northwest, the land is protected by their gigantic heroine-matriarch Rawtit,[8] while for the Buhid of the southeast, the land was founded by their ancestors, Manggat and Sayum-ay.[9]

Apart from the tamaraw, other forms of wildlife are also found within the park including the Mindoro climbing rat, Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat, Philippine deer, and wild pigs. A number of bird species also inhabit the park like the Mindoro imperial pigeon, Mindoro scops owl, black-hooded coucal, scarlet-collared flowerpecker and heart pigeon.

Some of the important indigenous plants found in the park are the kalantas tree, tindalo, almaciga, kamagong and jade vine.

• List of national parks of the Philippines
• List of World Heritage Sites in the Philippines