I. LOCATION, AREA AND GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

Location and Area

1. The SINP is located at the core of Samar Island in Eastern Visayas or Region VIII.

2. The protected area as per Presidential Proclamation 442 is 333,300 hectares while its buffer zone is 125,400 hectares.

3. Area Adjustment as presented in this profile, the PA and its buffer zone cover 333,008 hectares and 121,196 hectares, respectively.

Geographic Coverage

1. SINP encompasses a total of 240 barangays in the PA and another 67 in the buffer zone within the 36 municipalities and 1 city in the three provinces of Samar Island.

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II. CLIMATIC CONDITION

Temperature and Humidity

1. The Samar Island Natural Park has a tropical maritime climate characterized by (a) relatively high temperature; (b) high humidity; and (c) abundant rainfall.

2. The average annual temperature based on 1990 to 2000 temperature records is around 26.8ºC.

3. January is the coldest month having an average temperature of 26.4ºC, while the warmest month is in May with an average temperature of 28.8ºC.

4. The average relative humidity is over 80%, which combined with the warm temperature.

Climatic types

SINP has two (2) Climatic types based on Corona Classification as follows:

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III. SOILS

There are 12 known soil types within SINP as follows:

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IV. SLOPE AND TOPOGRAPHY

Slope

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Topography

1. The topography of SINP reflects the general topography of Samar Island, which is characterized by (a) predominantly hilly rather than mountainous; (b) dissected by hills and peaks; and (c) presenting a complex pattern of steep slope ridges.

2. The elevation of SINP ranges from 12 meters above sea level (masl) somewhere in the vicinity of Barangays Tugbon and Gecboan at the municipality of Silvino Lobos in Northern Samar province to 853 masl in Mt. Yawa at the municipality of Matuginao in the province of (Western) Sama

V. HYDROLOGY

Watershed Areas

Much of the areas covered by SINP serve as headwaters and upper catchment of major watershed/river systems of Samar Island. There are 28 watersheds covering SINP.

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Water Resources

SINP receives an average of about 3,000 mm of rain annually. 

The groundwater storage of SINP is estimated at least 7,815 MCM.

Estimated available groundwater for SINP Core area is around 999 MCM per year. the domestic and agricultural requirements of the communities in 240 barangays within the Core area, is around100 MCM per year.

Estimated available groundwater for Buffer Zone area is around 363 MCM per year. the domestic and agricultural requirements of the communities in 67 barangays within the Buffer Zone area is around 30 MCM per year.

Water Uses and Valuation
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VI. GEOLOGY

1. Chiefly Miocene to recent sedimentary rocks, which belong to classic and biohermal series, overlies SINP and the island of Samar in general.

2. The sedimentary formations occur in the northern part of SINP.

3. Central Samar, where SINP is generally located, consists of basement rocks that are sometimes overlain by clastic rocks and limestone.

4. The southeastern peninsula is made up of a jungle-covered limestone ridge that appears to be a younger coral reef.

VII. MINERAL RESOURCES

1. The island of Samar is rich with mineral deposits that have caught the attention of the mining industry in the Philippines and abroad during the last decades.

2. The island has the only bauxite deposits in the country that are potential for commercial development because of the presence of sufficient reserve or volume.

3. Of the 209,109 hectares declared BMR, about 81,265 hectares are within the PA and another 24,056 hectares in the buffer zone.  Aside from bauxite, there are also other minerals found in SINP that are equally viable in many economic years.

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VIII. GEO-HAZARDS

In this profile, the geo-hazards covered by the discussion are faults, landslides, liquefaction and flooding.
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IX. LAND CLASSIFICATION

The 1987 Constitution has provided four major land classifications of the country, which include (a) timberland or forestland; (b) mineral land; (c) national park; and (d) agricultural lands. 
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X. LAND COVER

Originally, 15 land cover categories were identified in the 2001 to 2003 land cover map, while 11 categories were presented in the older map. These categorizations were combined to produce a more manageable classification scheme involving only five land cover classes
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Forest Assessment

The SAMBIO forest resource assessment pointed out that Samar Island has a highly diverse forest with a very high regenerative capacity.

Assessment results shows that:

1. There are a fair number of trees and species belonging to 20 cm and up in diameter having an average ranging from 28.6 cm to 34.5 cm in three sampling areas of the assessment.

2. There are also trees that belong to small diameter classes ranging from 16.4 to 24.0 cm.,

3. Few big trees with substantial volume and are nearing over mature stage already were noted.

4. Tree species found in SINP are mostly composed of dipterocarps with a wide range of altitudinal distribution.  Many of these trees are economically important but there are already some threatened species.

5. The SAMBIO forest assessment further discovered that the island has abundant trees in the sapling and early pole stage (5 to 19 cm DBH) ranging from 1,760 to 1,960 per hectare.

6. One of the features of the Samar Island’s forests is its very high resiliency to recover immediately from any disturbance.

7. Wildling trees are also fairly abundant ranging from 9,000 to 12,235 per hectare.

8. It is estimated that the current harvestable volume per hectare in second growth forests is low with respect to the total wood volume.

9. The secondary growth forests are expected to attain more volume through time because of the preponderance of actively growing trees within the 20 to 60 cm diameter classes.

10. The estimate for the net present value of utilizing the forest in 2001 was only placed at PhP 39,284 per hectares, which is not commercially feasible.

11. Samar Island, however, is timber deficit region according to the SAMBIO report.  Based on the annual per capita wood consumption for each Filipino, the island needs some 70,000 cu.m. of wood products annually and will increase pro-rated with the population growth.

Carbon Sequestration Potential

The other important consideration of the island’s vegetative or land cover is its carbon sequestration function as presented in the SAMBIO study.

The other important consideration of the island’s vegetative or land cover is its carbon sequestration function as presented in the SAMBIO study.

1. A preliminary estimate of carbon uptake of Samar Island’s forest and other biomass stocks estimated at 831,550 hectares can accumulate a total of 2,041,180 tons of carbon annually, with a total economic value of approximately PhP 2.041 billion.

2. Brush lands with a total area of 393,856 hectares accumulate the most carbon compared to other forest/biomass types, contributing about 82.16% or a gross total of 1,677,118 tonsof carbon per year or an annual increment of 4.26 tons of carbon per hectare. This translates to a total economic value of PhP 1,677,117,619 or PhP 4,258.20 per hectare.

3. The residual dipterocarp forest with a total area of 189,577 hectares, contributing 8.72% or an estimated annual rate of 177,956 tons of carbon or 0.94 ton of carbon per hectare per year valued at PhP 177,955,930.

4. The Old growth forest with a total area of 106,696 hectares, contributing 7.84% or an estimated annual rate of 160,044 tons of carbon or 1.5 ton of carbon per hectare per year valued at PhP 160,044,000.

5. It is interesting to note that on a per hectare basis, the economic value of carbon accumulated by old growth forest is higher at PhP 1,500 compared to residual forests, which is estimated at PhP 938.70

VI. NATURAL FEATURES AND ATTRACTIONS

SINP offers several scenic and natural attractions that are potentials for recreation and ecotourism.  
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