Bolusao Watershed Forest Reserve is a reserve in Barangay Bolusao,

Lawaan, Eastern Samar Lawaan, officially the Municipality of Lawaan ( war, Bungto han Lawaan; tl, Bayan ng Lawaan), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 13,003 people. It is ho ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Geography

The Bolusao Watershed Forest Reserve is situated in the southern part of the island of Samar and lies within the coordinates 11°22'N and 125°20'E. Having an area of 4,055 hectares, it was declared as a watershed forest reserve via Proclamation Number 106 on 10 December 1992, for inclusion in the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) by virtue of R.A. 7586 (DENR, 2003). It is under the administrative jurisdiction of the municipality of

Barangay Bolusao

Bolusao is the most populated

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

. It is centrally located right at the east-west

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

boundary. It serves as the premier barangay of

Eastern Samar Eastern Samar (Waray-Waray: ''Sinirangan Samar''; tl, Silangang Samar), officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan. Eastern Samar occupies ...

for people coming from

Tacloban City Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The c ...

or Province of Samar traversing Samar Circumferencial Road. Hence, dubbed as 'The Gateway to

'. Its population as determined by the 2015 Census was 1,626. This represented 12.76% of the total population of

Lawaan Lawaan, officially the Municipality of Lawaan ( war, Bungto han Lawaan; tl, Bayan ng Lawaan), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 13,003 people. It is h ...

Infrastructure

Bolusao Irrigation-DD (Diversion Dams) Tabuk Farm to Market Road Amanjuray Hydroelectric Power

Biodiversity

The Philippine tarsier is known to be one of the smallest primates, categorized as an endangered species in the area. This nocturnal animal has been sighted at the Bolusao watershed and adjacent San Isidro village. The avifauna of the Bulosao River Watershed Forest Reserve is virtually unknown, but it is likely to be similar to those of the other IBAs on Samar, the Mt Cabalantian-Mt Capotoan complex and the Mt Yacgun-Mt Sohoton complex. The extensive forests in this IBA therefore probably support important populations of several of the threatened and restricted-range species of the Mindanao and Eastern Visayas Endemic Bird Area.

Tourism

There are four waterfalls in the Bolusao watershed which lies within the Samar Island Buffer Zone. These falls are Amandaraga, Pangi, Amanjuray, and Ban-Awan Falls located in Barangay Bolusao. Amandaraga and Ban-awan Falls are the main source of the municipality's water system. Meanwhile, Amanjuray Falls is the alternate hydro-electric power source of Lawaan wherein a mini-hydro power plant is existent nearby.

References

{{Reflist Geography of Eastern Samar