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Protecting our low elevation rainforest is producing a clean river system, the Bugang River.
By Jude D. Sanchez, Municipal Tourism Officer, Pandan, Antique, Philippines
The Philippines is a mega-diversity country, rich in natural resources like coastal and marine attractions, volcanoes, forests, mountains, lakes, rivers, wetlands, and caves. It has cultural resources that have potential adaptations for ecotourism like festivals and events, traditional villages, museums and cultural repositories, handicrafts, arts and crafts, and local cuisine. And yet the country is also one of the world's highest priority hotspots for the conservation of nature. Over a 40-year period (1948 to 1987), forest cover has been reduced from more than 50 percent to less than 24 percent. According to the Philippines Biodiversity Action Plan report, less than five percent of the national parks are estimated to be no longer biologically important.
Pandan is one of the places in the Philippines that nature has favored abundantly. It is part of the Northwest Panay Peninsula, a natural park and the only remaining low elevation rainforest in Visayas that has the world's most rare hornbill and one of the biggest lizards. Pandan is one of the 18 municipalities of the province of Antique, at the northernmost part of the province. It is 124 kilometers from San Jose, the provincial capital, 55 kilometers from Kalibo, the capital town of Aklan province that has the nearest airport, and 30 kilometers from Catiklan, Aklan, the jump-off point to the world-famous Boracay Island.
Pandan's pride and treasure, the jewel of Panay Island, is the picturesque BUGANG RIVER, acclaimed as one of the cleanest among the diverse rivers not only in Panay, but in the whole country. Bugang River is synonymous to the word "magnificent." Its turquoise, cool water spans about five kilometers from the headwaters of the subterranean river of the Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park to the estuary of the Bugang river. The riparian forest and aquatic plants attest to the water's purity. Colorful rocks and stones of different shapes and sizes can be seen 36 inches underneath. It has river corals, which is unique and seldom found in the other river systems of the country. Traversing along the middle section of the river, the landscape shifts from a riparian forest to mangroves and nipas that serve as a natural filter and breeding ground for different marine species. Endemic and migratory birds gather at the wetlands of the river's estuary for their feeding ground. The river is also the source of safe drinking water for the municipality of Pandan and the neighboring towns.
Bugang River received its first recognition in 1996 when it was selected as Region VI's entry in a national search for the cleanest river in the country. In 2003, it was the national winner of the Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran Cleanest Inland Body of Water- River Category. These national awards encouraged the Pandananons, locally and abroad, to focus their efforts towards the preservation and protection of Bugang River and the environment as a whole. It also raised the residents' level of consciousness on conservation.
Bugang River has become a tourism potential and a showcase of the municipality of Pandan. It was featured in national and international magazines and newspapers. With the support and intervention of the Philippines-Canada Local Government Support Program, Bugang River was selected as one of the pilot sites of the Product Development and Marketing for Community Based Eco-Tourism Project in Panay Island. The Eight Eco-Tours, Eight Destinations in the provinces of Iloilo, Aklan, and Antique, was then organized. Called the
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