Qualla: Northern Negros Natural Park

Northern Negros Natural Park: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paolobon140, CC BY-SA 4.0. Seventeen cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental drink from the same source: the mountainous forests of the Northern Negros Natural Park. At over 80,000 hectares, this protected area is the province's largest watershed, a biological reservoir that sustains both the ecological health of the island and the daily water supply of the Bacolod metropolitan area. That a park this vital exists at all is the product of nearly a century of legislative attention, beginning in 1935 when a colonial governor-general set aside the land, and continuing through repeated acts of political will to keep development at bay.

Image: Paolobon140 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Northern Negros Natural Park: From Forest Reserve to Natural Park

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit D4e3px, CC BY-SA 3.0. The protection of northern Negros began on April 28, 1935, when Governor-General Frank Murphy signed Administrative Act No. 789, establishing a forest reserve spanning 107,727 hectares across the mountainous interior of the island. Eleven years later, on August 7, 1946, President...

Image: D4e3px | CC BY-SA 3.0

Northern Negros Natural Park: The Summer Capital in the Canopy

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rachel Leyritana, CC BY-SA 3.0. The municipality of Salvador Benedicto sits within the park's boundaries, two-thirds of its entire land area falling inside the protected zone. Pine trees line the main highway through town, and the cooler mountain elevation has earned Salvador Benedicto the unofficial title of S...

Image: Rachel Leyritana | CC BY-SA 3.0

Northern Negros Natural Park: A Watershed Under Pressure

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kramthenik27, CC BY-SA 4.0. The park spreads over five municipalities and six cities, a jurisdictional complexity that makes coordinated management difficult. As Negros Occidental's primary watershed, the forested mountains capture rainfall and release it gradually through streams and rivers that feed reser...

Image: Kramthenik27 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Northern Negros Natural Park: What the Mountains Hold

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kramthenik27, CC BY-SA 4.0. Northern Negros is part of one of the most biologically significant islands in the Philippines. The Visayan region harbors endemic species found nowhere else on Earth, and the mountainous forests of this park represent some of the last intact habitat for those species. The park h...

Image: Kramthenik27 | CC BY-SA 4.0