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| Mount Apo |
KIDAPAWAN CITY,
Philippines — Mount Apo may be closed to mountaineers to prevent brush
fires on the mountain's grasslands, which have not felt rain since February.
Kidapawan
City Mayor Joseph Evangelista said in a recent statement that members of the
City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council are evaluating potential
fire hazards amid forecasts of a prolonged dry spell in Mindanao because of the
El Niño weather phenomenon.
El
Niño is felt in the Philippines through a delayed onset of the rainy season and
weak monsoon activity, according to weather bureau Pagasa.
Thousands
of mountaineers from across the country and from abroad climb Mount Apo during
the dry season.
Kidapawan
City is the gateway to Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak with an elevation
of 2,956 meters above sea level.
Thousands
of mountaineers from across the country and from abroad climb Mount Apo during
the dry season.
Kidapawan
City is the gateway to Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak with an elevation
of 2,956 meters above sea level.
The
mountain ranges surrounding Apo are forested watersheds from where spring
dozens of rivers and creeks that flow downstream to Kidapawan City and
neighboring towns.
Large
patches of forests and grasslands around Mount Apo were ravaged by fire in
2016.
Evangelista
said they are now coordinating their efforts to protect the mountain from bush
fires with the Protected Areas Management Board and the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources.
In
January 2018, a brushfire on Mount Pulag in Benguet damaged more than five
hectares of grassland on the second-highest mountain in the Philippines. Some
areas of Pulag were closed to tourists for months to allow the vegetation to
grow back. (CONTRIBUTOR – MINDANAO
EXPOSE’)
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