8-566: The Salinas Natural Monument is a natural monument comprising saline springs and forested mountains in southern Cagayan Valley in the Philippines . It is one of four protected areas in the landlocked province of Nueva Vizcaya spanning an area of 6,675.56 hectares (16,495.7 acres) in the municipalities of Bambang , Kayapa and Aritao . The park was established on May 18, 1914, as the Salinas Forest Reserve covering
16-566: Is being utilized as fishponds arranged in terraces on the mountainside for freshwater fish such as tilapia and African sharptooth catfish , including the giant freshwater prawn . The surrounding forest inhabited by numerous Philippine deers spreads over the villages of Salinas and Barat in Bambang, Mapayao, Acacia and San Fabian in Kayapa, and Baan in Aritao just north of Caraballo Sur . It
24-620: Is centered on the mountain of salt mines ( Spanish : salinas ) in the barangay of the same name in Bambang municipality near the confluence of Magat River and Santa Cruz River in the Upper Magat River Basin. This once snow-white mountain of travertine situated on the southeastern slopes of the Cordillera Central contains the Salinas Salt Springs, a popular attraction in the province during
32-795: Is located approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of the region's commercial center of Santiago and some 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the Cauayan Airport . It is accessible via a 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) road from the Pan-Philippine Highway (AH26) in Bambang. On June 22, 2018, the Salinas Natural Monument was designated a national park through the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (ENIPAS) Act or Republic Act No. 11038 which
40-720: The Salinas Salt Springs and surrounding forest through Executive Order No. 44 signed by Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison . In 1926, through amendments made in Proclamation No. 53 by Governor-General Leonard Wood , the forest reserve was re-established as the Salinas Deer Refuge . Salinas was finally declared a natural monument in 2000 under the National Integrated Protected Areas System through Proclamation No. 275 by President Joseph Estrada . The natural monument
48-451: The early days of Spanish and American colonial periods . The mountain of salt was formed through the continuous flow of a natural spring containing sulfate and carbonate salts over millions of years. When the 1990 Luzon earthquake hit the area, tectonic movements caused the underground water to be diverted leaving the whitish mounds dry and causing them to turn gray. At present, this mountain at Sitio Bansing once known for its salt industry
56-517: The natural environment are also included, such as cave art . This is especially true when relevant to the land of Indigenous Peoples. Under the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources guidelines, natural monuments are level III, described as: This is a lower level of protection than level II ( national parks ) and level I ( wilderness areas ). The European Environment Agency's guidelines for selection of
64-523: Was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte . Natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as waterfalls, cliffs, craters, fossil, sand dunes, rock forms, valleys and coral reefs. Locations important to faith groups may be considered natural monuments. Archeological and historical sites linked to
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