The La Mesa Ecopark is a public park located in Greater Lagro,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

, the

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 ...

History

Covering an area of the public park is located along the natural boundary of the

La Mesa Watershed Reservation The La Mesa Watershed Reservation is a protected area that preserves the only major watershed in Metro Manila, Philippines. Also known as the Novaliches Watershed, it contains the last remaining rainforest of its size in Metro Manila surroun ...

and its elevation is about below than the reservoir. After years of neglect, the park underwent a renovation under the "Save La Mesa Watershed Project", a collaboration between Bantay Kalikasan, the

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and the local government of

. A fund amounting to was raised for the rehabilitation of the park. It was reopened in September 2004 and was renamed as "La Mesa Ecopark". In 2019, it was proposed that the park be renamed as Gina Lopez Ecopark to commemorate Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation chairperson

Gina Lopez Regina Paz "Gina" La'o Lopez (December 27, 1953 – August 19, 2019) was a Filipino environmentalist and philanthropist who served as Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in an ''ad interim'' basi ...

who in 1999 established Bantay Kalikasan which had a role in the ecopark's rehabilitation.

Facilities

Among the activities that can be done by visitors in the park are hiking, mountain-biking, horseback riding, rappelling, zip-lining and fishing. They can also paddle boat ride in the lagoon. The park also has an "Ecotrail" and an orchidarium. The park also hosts a swimming complex which was opened in 2011. It had previous one which was destroyed by Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) in September 2009. In a 2011 report, the park has annual visitor rate of 280 thousand people.

Gallery

File:Pond,_La_Mesa_Ecopark_-_panoramio.jpg, La Mesa Ecopark pond, February 2014 File:Short_Bike_Loop,_La_Mesa_Ecopark_-_panoramio.jpg, A bike loop inside the eco park File:Geokichla_cinerea.jpg, An ashy ground thrush (''Geokichla cinerea'') endemic to the Philippines, captured in November 2013 inside the eco park

References

External links

* {{Parks and plazas in Manila Parks in Quezon City Birdwatching sites in the Philippines