Qualla: Pasonanca Natural Park https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/q/b/pasonanca-natural-park-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Pasonanca Natural Park https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park Pasonanca Natural Park: Introduction https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park/ Photo credit Wowzamboangacity, CC BY 3.0. Somewhere in the low-elevation gallery forests of the Zamboanga Cordillera, a gecko that science did not know existed until 2010 clings to a mossy trunk. Cyrtodactylus jambangan -- its holotype collected within these mountains -- is common here, in the kind of pristine habitat that has vanished from most of the Philippines. The Pasonanca Natural Park protects 12,107 hectares of this forest, including the largest remaining block of old-growth lowland dipterocarp trees on the entire Zamboanga Peninsula. It also provides the drinking water for roughly 800,000 residents of Zamboanga City, making it that rare thing: a wilderness whose survival is a matter of daily urban necessity.

Read more: Pasonanca Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Wowzamboangacity | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/q/b/pasonanca-natural-park-wp/w9qb-pasonanca-natural-park-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Pasonanca Natural Park: The Watershed That Runs a City https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park/ Photo credit Wowzamboangacity, CC BY 3.0. The Tumaga River and its tributaries flow from the park's mountain headwaters to a diversion dam that feeds the Zamboanga City Water District. This is not a scenic amenity -- it is the bulk of the city's water supply. The park sits in the southern end of the Zamboanga Cordillera,...

Read more: Pasonanca Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Wowzamboangacity | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/q/b/pasonanca-natural-park-wp/w9qb-pasonanca-natural-park-the-watershed-that-runs-a-city.mp3 0:06 2 full Pasonanca Natural Park: Creatures of a Single Mountain https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park/ Photo credit Wowzamboangacity, CC BY 3.0. The park is the sole known location for adult specimens of the Zamboanga false gecko, and the place where the holotype of Cyrtodactylus jambangan was first collected. Other endemic reptiles include the Mindanao keelback and the Philippine small-disked frog. The Philippine eagle, ...

Read more: Pasonanca Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Wowzamboangacity | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/q/b/pasonanca-natural-park-wp/w9qb-pasonanca-natural-park-creatures-of-a-single-mountain.mp3 0:06 3 full Pasonanca Natural Park: Flora That Rewrites the Field Guides https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park/ Photo credit Wowzamboangacity, CC BY 3.0. Scientists are still discovering species within the park's boundaries. Sonerila mapelo, described in 2022, is one of only three Sonerila species in the entire Philippines, and it was first identified from specimens collected inside the park. Amomum zamboangense, described as rece...

Read more: Pasonanca Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Wowzamboangacity | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/q/b/pasonanca-natural-park-wp/w9qb-pasonanca-natural-park-flora-that-rewrites-the-field-guides.mp3 0:06 4 full Pasonanca Natural Park: From Reserve to Heritage Park https://qualla.com/pasonanca-natural-park/ Photo credit Wowzamboangacity, CC BY 3.0. The park's protected status has been strengthened in stages. In 1987, President Corazon Aquino declared the Pasonanca Watershed Forest Reserve through Proclamation No. 199, encompassing 10,560 hectares. In 1999, President Joseph Estrada enlarged and reclassified the area as a nat...

Read more: Pasonanca Natural Park on Qualla

Image: Wowzamboangacity | CC BY 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/q/b/pasonanca-natural-park-wp/w9qb-pasonanca-natural-park-from-reserve-to-heritage-park.mp3 0:06 5 full