Mayon Volcano Natural Park

Mayon Volcano Natural Park
Tentative World Heritage Site
Mayon Volcano Natural Park (MVNP) is a 5,459.65-hectare protected area in Albay (location:
13° 15’ 19.33’’ latitude and 123° 41’ 09.87’’ longitude) declared by Presidential Proclamation
413 of 2000 under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Law of 1992. It is a
core area of the UNESCO-declared Albay Biosphere Reserve.
[1 picture: Official Map]
MVNP is located at Mt. Mayon, the most active stratovolcano in the Philippines with over 50
recorded eruptions in the last 400 years. At 2,462 m above sea level, it is the highest volcano in
Luzon Island and described as the “world’s most perfect cone.”
[1 picture: Mayon by Wang]
MVNP is home to 156 species of flora belonging to 36 families, including 83 species of trees and
near-threatened pitcher plant Nepenthes ventricosa. Of 71 woody species of ethnobotanical
use, 32% are endemic while the others are indigenous.
[1 picture: Nepenthes ventricosa]
MVNP is also home to 104 species of land vertebrates. Of the 7 endemic mammal species, 3 are
vulnerable: the Philippine brown deer, Philippine warty pig, and giant golden crowned flying
fox. Of 37 endemic bird species, 3 are in the IUCN Red List: the Luzon bleeding heart, Philippine
eagle owl and Philippine cockatoo. The 10 amphibians are all endemic with 4 species in the
IUCN Red List: the Luzon fanged frog, Luzon forest ground frog, Guenther’s forest frog and
banded pygmy frog.
[1 picture: Philippine cockatoo]
The spectacular shape of Mayon Volcano as a near-perfect cone is most apparent in its profile,
described as a hyperbolic sine-curve, which it possesses in all angles. This is caused by many
factors, including the absence of major pre-existing edifice beneath the volcano and successive
piling of lava agglutinates at the summit, ensuring random distribution of lava flows in all
directions and single-vent magma flow.
[1 picture: another photo by Wang]

The volcanism of Mayon Volcano is created by the westward subduction of the Philippine Sea
Plate towards the Philippine Mobile Belt System. Mayon is part of a volcanic chain—the Bicol
Arc—created by this subduction. The eruptive activity of Mayon follows a cyclical variation
trending towards successive production of andesitic lavas until the next influx of basaltic
magma, which precipitates a major eruption. Eruption can be phreatic, Strombolian, Vulcanian,
or Plinian.
[1 picture: spectacular picture of Mayon erupting lava]
The earliest evidence of Mayon’s eruption is dated 3100 BCE ± 300 years. The earliest
historically recorded eruption is in 1601, after which Mayon has made more than 50 eruptions
since. Memorable events are the Vulcanian eruption of 1766 when Mayon’s eruption and lahar
flow first brought it international notoriety, the most violent 1814 Plinian eruption that killed
around 700 and destroyed Budiao and Cagsawa, the 1897 strong Vulcanian eruption that
resulted in 350 deaths at Santo Domingo, and the 1993 Vulcanian-Strombolian eruption that
resulted in 77 deaths.
[1 picture: historic photo of Mayon erupting, with ash column]
The deposits of Mayon are: 1) predominantly andesitic lava of the medium K calc-alkaline series
that covers the middle slopes (500-2000 m) and upper slopes (above 2000 m); 2) airfall deposits
that covers the lower slopes (sea level to 500 m) and middle slopes; 3) pyroclastic and debris
flow deposits that cover the lower slopes; and 4) lahar deposits present on channels.
[1 picture: picture of Mayon from the ground with lahars or boulders]
Mayon deposits consist of phenocrysts that range from easily weatherable augite to slowly
weatherable plagioclase. They give rise to a variety of soil series around Mayon, namely: 1)
Mayon series on the eastern slope used for abaca, fruits, coconut, upland rice and root crops;
2) Legazpi series on the northeastern and southeastern slopes; 3) Mauraro series on the
southwestern slope used for root crops; and 4) Guinobatan series on the western slope used
for coconut and abaca.
[1 picture: planting around Mayon]
Mt. Mayon is unique among active conical volcanoes in the world for having a dense population
around its base due to the heavy settlement encouraged by its fertile soils. Since pre-hispanic
period, settlements tended to cluster around the major rivers arising from Mayon: the Quinale
A river, the Quinale B river, and the Yawa river. Spanish Franciscan friars have founded towns
around Mayon based therein. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the boom in abaca from
the towns on the western slopes of Mayon made Albay the richest province and opened
Legazpi port to international trade.
[1 picture: picture of Legazpi with Mayon]
Mayon is believed to be a sacred mountain, with some indigenous groups believing it to be the
center or “navel” of the world. Pre-Christian Bicolanos held it as the mountain dwelling of the
god Mayong, and also the final resting place of the souls of their ancestors. Franciscan
missionaries saw it as the symbol of Bicolano animism, and its successful scaling was seen to
represent the triumph of Christian faith over native superstitions. Even today, various cult
places are established around the volcano, such as that of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Bonga,
Bacacay, Our Lady of Salvation in Bonga, Legazpi, and St. Michael in Kilicao Daraga. The local
miracle stories of these patrons are all connected with Mt. Mayon.
[1 picture: Our Lady of the Abandoned in Bonga]
An iconic landmark, Mayon is the subject of numerous artworks from the celebrated Baroque
map of Pedro Murillo Velarde in 1734 to contemporary visual representations. One of the most
recognizable depictions is in the paintings of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, who helped
canonize Mayon Volcano as an indispensable centrepiece in Philippine pastoral scenery. To
Amorsolo and many nationalists of the 20th century, Mayon is a symbol of the Filipino nation’s
aspiration for independence: standing proud and reaching for the heights.
[1 picture: Mayon painting by Amorsolo]
Not only was Mayon volcano associated with the independent Filipino spirit in the visual arts
but also in literature and music, as seen in Francisco Buencamino Sr.’s Mayon Fantasia and in
the poetry of Claro M. Recto, Bernardo Garcia, and Manuel Bernabé, the “King of Filipino
Balagtasan.” In local literature of Bicol, Mayon was depicted as a mythological figure in the
poems of Bernardino Melendreras, and was a subject of the uniquely Bicol genre of disaster
poetry called “hurasa.” More popularly, Mayon is associated with numerous oral folktales, the
most famous of which is the romance Legend of Daragang Magayon (Legend of the Beautiful
Lady).
[1 picture: Legend of Daragang Magayon]

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Mayon Volcano Natural Park

Tentative World Heritage Site

[1 picture: Official Map]

[1 picture: Mayon by Wang]

[1 picture: Nepenthes ventricosa]

[1 picture: Philippine cockatoo]

[1 picture: another photo by Wang]

[1 picture: spectacular picture of Mayon erupting lava]

[1 picture: historic photo of Mayon erupting, with ash column]

[1 picture: picture of Mayon from the ground with lahars or boulders]

[1 picture: planting around Mayon]

[1 picture: picture of Legazpi with Mayon]

[1 picture: Our Lady of the Abandoned in Bonga]

[1 picture: Mayon painting by Amorsolo]

[1 picture: Legend of Daragang Magayon]

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