ALI turns golf course plan in Cebu City mountains into nature park

Real estate giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has dropped plans to develop its property in the hinterlands of Cebu City into a golf course and instead opted to establish a nature park in the area.

Ver de la Cerna, corporate communications head of ALI affiliate Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), said park opened its first phase Wednesday, covering 20 hectares.

”When the company realized the land is part of a protected landscape, it decided to reposition its original plans into what it should be, an educational facility,” said de la Cerna, whose office serves as the park’s secretariat.

The park is within the 29,000-hectare Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL), which covers what used to be known as the Mananga and Kotkot-Lusaran watersheds, and the Sudlon and Central Cebu National Parks.

ALI will open the park to nature lovers, researchers and anybody who wants to see a green zone in Cebu Island where the forest cover is reported to be less than one percent of the total land area

The park was inaugurated and turned over to the Ayala Heights Nature Park Foundation after the launching Wednesday.

Under the park project, ALI is reforesting about 72 hectares of company-owned property within the Kotkot-Lusaran watershed.

The project, which involves residents in surrounding barangays, is meant to be an ecological tourism destination, to serve as an educational facility, and become a habitat of Cebu’s endangered plants and animals.

The park is also developed to become a model for proper watershed management that will showcase biodiversity restoration and stakeholder partnership, involving the public and private sectors.

ALI senior vice-president Emilio Tumbocon said the park will also complement the adjacent Ayala Heights Cebu by “providing a healthy and desirable environment for village residents.”

Ayala Heights, a 20-minute drive from downtown Cebu City, is ALI’s upscale residential project.

ALI partnered with CHI, Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW), Soil and Water Conservation Foundation and the University of San Carlos Water Resource Center to form the Ayala Heights Nature Park Foundation, which will serve as the “steward” in the enhancement of the park. The park will be managed according to the Protected Area Management Plan for the CCPL.

”We are confident that with the help of our partners and the community, we can create a world-class nature park,” said ALI vice president Francis Monera.

Planning for the rehabilitation started three years ago. Last November, ALI completed the building of facilities at the park, such as interpretive trail, administration office or park ranger outpost, reception office, staging area, tree nursery, restrooms, information stations and a small restaurant.

It also replaced exotic tree species that were grown there with native trees to attract endemic animals and restore the area’s biological diversity.

CHI reported that there are about 27 bird species found in the area, including the white-collared kingfisher, olive backed sunbird and the Asian glossy starling.

”The construction cost is less expensive because facilities are made out of light materials sourced from around this area. It is also built by workers from the community,” said de la Cerna.

He said maintaining the park would not entail a lot of cost as the park is “economically sustaining.”

There is no target date for the completion of he development, he said, because it will depend on how the public will accept it.

The park can hold a maximum of 60 people divided into 15-member groups. Trained local residents will serve as tour guides.

Entrance fees are as follows: P50 for adults, P25 for children. It will be managed by the Ayala Heights Nature Park Foundation to maintain the facility.

”We are maintaining this park to be low-impact, environmentally-sound, and community-participatory tourism activity,” said CUSW executive director Socorro Atega.

As phase two of the development will deal with swampy areas, the foundation is already thinking of having a nature center that will serve as a major educational facility where visitors and researchers can get information about the park’s history and the various plant and animal species inside the park.

It also plans to establish a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) zone and a bird watching area, put more food plants and build a historical perspective of the park with the help of senior citizens from the community. (PNA)