FLORA SURVEY AND BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT FOR CORE ZONING MUNICIPALITY OF CULION September 2006 Prepared for: PALAWAN COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Palawan Center for Sustainable Development Sta. Monica Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines 5300 Email: [email protected] Tel.: (63-48) 434-4235, Fax: 434-4234 Funded through a loan from : JAPAN BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Prepared by: PACIFIC CONSULTANTS INTERNATIONAL in association with ALMEC Corporation CERTEZA Information Systems, Inc. DARUMA Technologies Inc. Geo-Surveys & Mapping, Inc. Photo Credits: All photos by SEMP-NP ECAN Zoning Component Project Management Office This report can be reproduced as long as the convenors are properly acknowledged as the source of information Reproduction of this publication for sale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without the written consent of the publisher. Printed by: Futuristic Printing Press, Puerto Princesa City, Philippines Suggested Citation: PCSDS. 2006. Flora Survey and Biodiversity Assessment for Core Zoning Municipality of Culion . Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, Puerto Princesa City. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page List of Tables v List of Figures vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY vii 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE SURVEY 1 3.0 LIMITATIONS OF THE SURVEY 3 4.0 METHODOLOGY OF THE SURVEY 3 5.0 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 6 5.1 Physiography 6 5.2 Climate 7 5.3 Soil 7 7 5.4 River Systems 7 5.5 Land Use and Vegetation Cover 7 5.6 Road Network 11 6.0 BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS 11 6.1 Forest Type 11 6.2 Land Uses in the Uplands 12 7.0 BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 13 7.1 Plant Forms 13 7.2 Similarity Indices 14 7.3 Dominance of Species 15 7.4 Culion Endangered Species 15 8.0 LAND DEGRADATION PROBLEMS IN THE HILLY 16 AND UPLAND AREAS 9.0 CORE ZONES 17 _________________________________________________________________________ iii Title Page 10.0 ISSUES, CONCERNS AND THREATS TO CORE 21 ZONES 10.1 Present/Existing and Potential Threats 22 11.0 CONCLUSION 22 11.1 Significant Findings From the Survey 23 12.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 23 REFERENCES 28 ANNEXES 30 Annex Table 1. Dominant Plant Family and Species by Transect 30 Annex Table 2. Checklist of Angiosperms (Non-Monocots Paleoherbs 37 and Dicots) Annex Table 3. Checklist of Gymnosperms 54 ANNEX PICTURES 56 ________________________________________________________________________ iv LIST OF TABLES Table No. Title Page 1 Biodiversity Scale (Fernando, 1998) 2 Forest/Land Cover in Culion 3 Vegetation Cover/Landuse in Culion 4 Shannon Biodiversity Indices (H’) and the Pielou Distribution Indices (J’) per Transect in Culion 5 Plant forms and Their Number of Species in Culion 6 Similarity Indices between Transects in Culion Island 7 List of Endangered Species in Culion per Flora Survey Result (2003) 8 Coordinates of the Transects Identified as Potential Core Zones ________________________________________________________________________ v LIST OF FIGURES Figure No. Title Page 1 Location of Culion Island with Respect to Mainland Palawan and Its Road and River Systems 2 The Island Municipality of Culion showing the Transect Lines and the Rugged Coastline 3 Frequency of Landuses in Culion, 2003 4 Forest Land Cover Map of Culion (NAMRIA, September 2004) 5 Potential Core Zones Encircles in Culion according to Biodiversity Hotspots 6 Potential Core Zones Superimposed in Satellite Image Map 7 Proposed Core Zones per Flora Survey (in red line) 8 A Simplified Protection System (V.B. Mendoza, 2004) Patterned after the “Save the La Mesa Watershed Project” and Subic Forest 9 Comprehensive Site Development Framework ________________________________________________________________________ vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The scope of the ECAN Zoning project covers an aggregate area of 898,380 hectares that includes 13 municipalities in northern Palawan and Puerto Princesa City. Culion is one of the municipalities covered in this assessment. Culion is one of the islands in the Calamianes Group wherein Busuanga and Coron belongs. It lies within 11” 36’ to 12” 0’ North latitude and 119” 47’ to 120’ 15’ East latitude and is about 200 miles Southwest of Manila. It is bounded on the North by Busuanga island, on the East by Coron reef, on the South by Linapacan island and on the West by South China sea. It has a total land area of 42,000 hectares or 415 square kilometers including 41 surrounding islands and a municipal water covering 75,710 hectares. Overall area including its territorial waters is 119,264.4 hectares ( Culion CLUP, 1995 ). Culion has thirteen (13) barangays namely: Liac, Halsey, Binudac, Marily, Osmena, Lumber Camp, Baldat, Ugnisan, Canimango, Balanya, Malaking Patag, Cabulihan, and Burabod. The highest elevation is 460 meters above mean sea level and corresponds to Mount Chinangkan. Culion is one of the 2nd priority sites of the ECAN Zoning Component of the Sustainable Environment and management Project of the PCSDS – DOT – DPWH. As a second priority site, the objectives of the survey are: 1. to characterize the environment and the natural resources therein, albeit as baseline information. 2. to identify potential Core Zone areas using the baseline information gathered. 3. to determine the baseline biodiversity levels of the forest cover of Culion as part of the baseline information. 4. to document the current state of forest degradation in order for authorities to accomplish planning for the management and protection of the remaining forest resources more accurately. Results of the terrestrial survey are expected to facilitate the identification and delineation of the core zones in Culion and the development of management and protection strategies. This dovetails with the plans to make Calamianes island a major destination for local and foreign tourist. The sampling design ( Line Intercept Method ) of the survey for Culion is a gridline approach wherein the whole municipality is laid out with transect lines that cover the area from coast to coast. A total of 13 transects of 2.5 kilometer intervals covered the entire municipality. Characterization of Culion is discussed in a general manner rather than in depth as what has been done in Busuanga and El Nido municipalities. The most common forest type that could be found in Culion is lowland semi- deciduous forest although patches of Beach and Molave type of forests and small clusters of Dipterocarps are still observed in the area. Six ( 6 ) plant forms were identified with _______________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY vii Tree species ( 149 encountered during the survey ) as the dominant flora. This is followed by the Vine species ( 29 ) and then the Herb ( 13 ). The presence of many vine, rattan, and herb species indicated a very disturbed landscape wherein much sunlight penetrates to the undergrowth allowing such species to proliferate. The tree species on the other hand, are a mixture of small to medium sized trees. Many are in the seedling to sapling stage suggesting a very young forest cover. There are “ old growth “ trees surveyed but these are more in Karst substrates, which slows the growth rate of trees considerably, thus despite of their small diameters, their age are old, thus making them old growth in classification. Overall, Culion has a Biodiversity Index of 4.22 which is very high according to the Fernando Scale. Its Distribution Index is J’ = 0.80, suggesting a clustered type of distribution. Comparing the vegetative composition of transects in terms of their similarities, only transects 10 & 11, and 5 & 6 have high similarities. Transects 10 & 11 are 74.17 % similar while transects 5 & 6 are only 52.9 % similar. In linking this information with high biodiversity indices, the areas of transects 5, 6, & 7 and that of 10, 11, & 12 are potential Core zones. These transects are located in the Barangays South of Poblacion. In terms of dominance, Tree species still rank among the top 10. Dominating species is the Bintang ( Sysygium subfoetidum ), followed by Dildil ( Cynometra integrifolia ), and then the Palomaria ( Callophyllum inophyllum ), Katmon ( Dillenia philippinensis ), Malapu and Molave ( Vitex parviflora ) follow in 4rt, 5th and 6th ranks. Twenty five ( 25 ) species of Flora were considered to be endangered in status. This is about 12.43 % of the total number of species surveyed in Culion. The rare and endangered Cyca wadeii or the Culion Pitogo is an endemic. Its habitat is near coastlines and it’s a bit smaller than its Cycad cousins. This Pitogo can only be found in the island of Culion and nowhere else. Two ( 2 ) barangays have considerable forest stands, Patag and Osmena, and two ( 2 ) sites in Bgy. Lumber camp and Osmena are found with Dipterocarp species. Sitio de Carabao has the widest or largest grassland area in Culion. Soil is one of the major problems of the island because it is not very suitable for agricultural production especially in the sloping land. Hilly lands should have adequate vegetative cover to minimize erosion. There are currently five ( 5 ) serious forest / upland degradation resulting from unregulated human activities in Culion. To wit: (1) fires in grasslands encroaching forested areas, (2) squatting in 13 barangays, (3) unmanaged pastures or grazing, (4) widespread illegal upland agriculture and kaingin making, (5) uncontrolled harvesting of forest products. _______________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY viii The proposed management prescriptions to protect core zones and improve forest conditions in