Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape, Philippines

KBA status: confirmed

Rajah Sikatuna National Park is about 8 km inland from the national road of Bilar, in the low mountain range in the south of the Bohol Island. Practically all of the significant forest on Bohol is inside this park, with only patches of intermingled plantations and dipterocarp forest elsewhere on the island. The park is characterised by rolling hills with remnant natural forest on steep limestone terrain, surrounded by plantation forest, deforested hills and grassland. Limestone (molave) forest covers c.60% of the park, grassland c.15%, forestry and agro-industrial plantations c.5%, and permanent agricultural areas c.10%. Four natural springs, the Logarita, Anislag, Mabugnao and Aghuban springs, flow down from the park and provide the water supply to the surrounding municipalities. There is a small settlement composed of approximately a hundred households, and about 10% of the park has been converted to agricultural land. The park is an attractive destination for tourists because of the chocolate hill formations, the heavily forested hills and the extensive network of good trails.

There are currently problems in Rajah Sikatuna National Park with the collection of firewood and rattans, the hunting and trapping of wildlife, and the clearance of the forest for kaingin in the eastern portion of the park, although these threats are being controlled by DENR.