NATURAL RESOURCES

There eighteen (18) major river basins in the Philippines covering 37.50% of the total land area of the country. Map 3 shows the location of these basins.

Map 3. Location of 18 Major River Basins  in the Philippines

Davao De Oro is one of the provinces in the Davao Region which is traversed by the Agusan River Basin. The updated Agusan River Basin (ARB) Master Plan showed that ARB covers 3 regions, 8 provinces, 5 cities, 41 municipalities and 1 bay area. Specifically, the regions covered by the Agusan River Basin are Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), Region 11 (Davao Region), and Region 13 (Caraga Region) where Butuan Bay is situated.

The Agusan River Basin (ARB) which has drainage area of 11,937 square kilometers and estimated length of 120 kilometers, is geographically divided into three (3) sub-basins, namely: upper ARB, middle ARB and lower ARB. Upper ARB covers the provinces of Davao De Oro, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental, while middle ARB covers Agusan Del Sur, Bukidnon and Surigao del Sur, and lower ARB for Agusan del Norte and Misamis Oriental. All municipalities in Davao De Oro comprised the Upper ARB, together with the municipality of Kapalong in Davao Del Norte and municipalities of Boston and Cateel of Davao Oriental. Agusan River Basin is the biggest river traversing Davao De Oro, and with its tributaries, it provides the major irrigation needs of the province (Map 4).

Other river traversing Davao De Oro is the Hijo River with drainage area of 689.22 square kilometers and an estimated length of 64 kilometers covering the municipalities of Maco, Mabini, Pantukan, Mawab and Nabunturan. Another rivers that are also considered important and critical water bodies in the province because of their substantial contributions to the people’s livelihood are the Naboc River in Monkayo and the Kingking River in Pantukan. These rivers are in critical condition as they serve as the drainage of the wastes from the mining operations in the respective municipalities.

Surface water outputs are utilized in the irrigation system and in other water system projects in support to agricultural development, while utilization for ground water is primarily domestic purposes.

Nonetheless, the hydro-geological characteristic of the province is considered very favorable. Potable water through spring development is found in all municipalities.

Map 4. Location Map of Agusan River Basin

Forestland as presented earlier constitutes the largest portion of the province total land area at 67.2 percent or 3,135.96 square kilometers. It covers old growth forest, second growth forest (residual forest), mossy areas, mangroves, plantation use forest, brushland, open/grassland, and cultivated areas. Brushland comprises the largest area at 45.23 percent, followed by second growth forest or residual forest at 22.29 percent. Mangroves, on the other hand, have the least area of 0.21 percent of the forest cover. (Table 30)

Table 30. Forest Land in Square Kilometers, By Type of Forest Cover, Compostela Valey Province

The area covering 6,106 hectares more or less (subject to actual ground survey), is located at the  municipality of Mabini particularly to include Pindasan Island mangrove wilderness area, Kopiat Island and surrounding portions of the Davao Gulf.  It was declared as protection area on May 31, 2000 through the Proclamation No. 316.

The Mainit Hotsprings and Protected Landscape in the municipality of Nabunturan covering 401 hectares more or less (subject to actual ground survey) was declared as protected area under Proclamation No. 320 dated May 31, 2000.

The Mount Tagub-Kampalili Ranges Protected Landscape situated in the municipality of  Maragusan containing an area of 42,953 hectares (subject to actual ground demarcation), was already proposed under House Bill No. 262 and will be referred to as the Mt. Tagub-Kampalili Ranges ProtectedLandscape.

 The referred non-NIPAS areas are the second growth forest, mangrove and fish sanctuaries, buffer  strips and easements, salvage zones along foreshore lands, freshwater swamps and marshes, protected agricultural areas (under RA 8435 and RA 8048) and other protected areas.

There are four (4) watershed areas identified in the province which are given high priority by the provincial government in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). These are: 1) Upper Agusan River Basin, 2) Andap Watershed, 3) Hijo River Watershed, and 4)  Kingking-Matiao River Cluster Watershed.  (Table 31)

Other watershed areas in the province were also identified. Upon the implementation of the Upland Development Program in Southern Mindanao in the years 2000-2007, collaborations were forged and institutionalized thru Memorandum of Agreements between and among the concerned Municipal and Barangay LGUs and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (PENRO/CENRO) for the co-management of these watershed areas covering a total of 14,334 hectares. (Table 32)

Table 31.  Critical Watershed Areas, Davao De Oro Province

The province has rich deposits of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources. Metallic resources include gold, silver, copper and iron among others with both large and small-scale mining operations present. Total revenue of Php 98,495,748.55 was generated from these mineral resources from the period 2008 to 2015.

Small-scale mining is more on gold and silver extraction and or exploration.  The gold rush in Mt. Diwata, Monkayo is the most famous but the operation also thrives in the municipalities of Maco, Maragusan, Nabunturan, New Bataan, and Pantukan where nine (9) People’s Small Scale Mining Areas  were declared as “Minahan Ng Bayan” totaling 667.7786 hectares (Table 33)

Due to the huge reseve of gold in the previously mentioned municipalities, MGB declared these municipalities or Davao De Oro Province as a whole as the Gold District in the Davao Region (Table 34).

Table 33. Declared People’s Small Scale Mining Areas, Davao De Oro Province