Bataan National Park
| Bataan National Park | |||
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| Location: | Philippines | ||
| Specialty: | Luzon | ||
| Next city: | Balanga City | ||
| Surface: | 256.76 km² | ||
| Founding: | 1945 | ||
The Bataan National Park is located in the Bataan Province on the island of Luzon , Philippines . It extends over an area of 25,676 hectares. When it was established in 1945, it had an area of 31,365 hectares, but was reduced to an area of 23,688 in 1980 and expanded to its present size in 1992. It is listed in the annex of the NIPAS Act 1992 as a protected nature park .
It extends around the 1,253 meter high Natib Mountain in the area of the municipalities of Bagac , Abucay , Morong , Orani , Hermosa and Balanga City . In the northwest is the 6,261 hectare Subic Watershed Forest Reserve . The national park is a popular destination for tourists and the local population.
The core zone of the national park is the region around the two summit calderas of the Natib. Evergreen lowland rainforests extend up to a height of approx. 900 meters on its mountain slopes , above which a mountain forest forms. In the peripheral zones there are agricultural areas that alternate with built-up areas. However, the forests are threatened by slash-and-burn and illegal logging. The eruption of Pinatubo in the north in 1991 caused lasting damage to the forests in the national park.
The varied natural scenery offers a habitat for the giant bark rats ( Phloeomys pallidus ), the golden crowned flying fox ( Acerodon jubatus ), the Philippine deer ( Cervus mariannus ) and the Philippine pustular pig ( Sus philippensis ) , which are endemic to the Philippines .
Under the Avifauna are remarkably the Philippines duck ( Anas luzonica ), the Philippines hood Adler ( Nisaetus philippensis ), the red-vented cockatoo ( Cacatua haematuropygia ), the Luzon-Spatelschwanzpapagei ( Prioniturus luconensis ), the Philippine Eagle-Owl ( Bubo philippensis ) and Manila Papageiamadine ( Erythrura viridifacies ) .