Lake Danao
Encyclopedia
Lake Danao is a guitar-shaped lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 on the island of Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, covering an area of 148 hectares (365.7 acre). It is situated in the 2193 hectares (5,419 acre) Lake Danao National Park, which also includes the Amandiwin mountain range. The lake is 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) northeast of Ormoc City
Ormoc City
The City of Ormoc is a 1st class city in the province of Leyte, Philippines. The city's name is derived from ogmok, an old Visayan term for lowland or depressed plain. It is the first non-provincial city of the Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 177,524 people...

, half an hour drive along the San Pablo - Tongonan and Milagro - Lake Danao roads.

It was originally named "Lake Imelda" and was declared a natural park on June 2, 1972 by virtue of presidential memorandum issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...

. Later it was renamed and declared as Lake Danao Natural Park on February 3, 1998 through Proclamation No. 1155 and is now protected by Republic Act No. 7586 otherwise known as the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act of 1992. The lake supplies potable water to at least seven towns in Eastern Leyte including Tacloban City
Tacloban City
The City of Tacloban is a port city approximately 360 miles southeast of Manila. It is the first in Eastern Visayas to be classified as a Highly Urbanized City. It is the capital of the Philippine province of Leyte and is the largest city in terms of population in Eastern Visayas...

 as well as the source of irrigation for ricelands in some municipalities like Dagami, Burauen, Pastrana
Pastrana, Leyte
Pastrana is a 5th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 14,351 people in 2,805 households.-Barangays:Pastrana is politically subdivided into 29 barangays.* Arabunog* Aringit...

 and Tabon-tabon.

At 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) above sea level, Lake Danao lies on an altitude similar to Tagaytay, making the area cooler than the average Philippine temperature.

Origin

The lake is volcanic in origin and is probably a graben or depression produced by the Philippine fault
Philippine Fault System
The Philippine Fault System is an inter-related system of faults throughout the whole of the Philippine Archipelago, primarily caused by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into what tectonic geophysicists call the Philippine Mobile Belt....

 (or Leyte Central Fault), an active fault traversing the lake area in a N-S direction. Rock formations of the surrounding mountains include andesitic volcanic rocks of Quaternary origin in the western side, andesitic and dacitic volcanics of Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 origin in the southeastern portion, and intermediate volcanic sediments of Quaternary origin in the northeastern side of the lake. There are wetlands found near the lake. The present lake could be the deepest portion of a much larger lake in the past. It was probably much larger in the geologic past and could have included the large wetlands and marshes. Sedimentation has probably transformed this portion of the lake into what it is today.

Threats

Various sectors of the local community had been studying the lake and its ecosystem. The major threat of avifaunal species in Lake Danao Natural Park is hunting. Key informants revealed that hunters are not only the local residents but many of them also come from other places. Birds that are mostly hunted are hornbills, doves, and pigeons. Slash-and-burn of forest for agricultural cultivation and illegal logging also has contributed to the degradation of some parts of the protected area. Establishment of human settlements within the park is also a serious threat. There has been recorded illegal settlements within the vicinity of the lake that could greatly affect its ecosystem.

External links

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