Mt. Data National Park

Mt. Data National Park is a 5,512 ha of land that is 50 km north of Baguio City along the Halsema Highways. This national park was created in 1936; it has an elevation of 2,310 m above sea level and stand astride the boundaries of Benguet, Mt. Province and Ifugao Province.

The area is sheltered by a few mossy and pine forest, and few scattered areas of manioc, most of the area has been developed into a commercial vegetable farms. There are interesting flowers that grow on shrubs, trees, vines and even on thick layer of leaf litter. The humus gives the ground a soft and rich feeling. During 1947 the mountain was considered as a very important site for the studies of Mammal taxonomy in the Philippines and it was also one of the ecosystems in the country who has a rich biodiversity. Through the year a lot of changes occurs and at present the long luxuriant vegetation is about to become a memory of the past. There are only few species of small mammal remains in the forest. The watershed forest is almost cleared and so extinction of endemic animals is emerging. The streams in the park are already chemically polluted and wasted due to the formation of headwaters of the largest rivers on Luzon, the Abra, Agno and Chico. A strike of massive erosion would surely damage the park which would cause a major human disaster. At present the status of the forest and the national park is being reviewed.