Mount Dajo

Mount Dajo National Park protects Bud Dajo, a cinder cone on Jolo Island in Sulu about 8 km southeast of Jolo town. The park covers 213 hectares and was declared by Proclamation No. 261 on 28 February 1938^[1].

BirdLife International lists five bird species in the park: the grey imperial pigeon, Philippine cockatoo, Sulu hornbill, Sulu pygmy woodpecker and Winchell's kingfisher. Several are Vulnerable and the cockatoo and hornbill are Critically Endangered^[1].

The mountain is heavily deforested, with the few remaining forest patches mostly on steep ridges^[1].

Bud Dajo is a basaltic cinder cone, 620 m high with a base 9.5 km across and a crater 0.5 km wide breached to the southwest. It belongs to the Zamboanga-Sulu volcanic arc, and its last eruption is unknown^[1].

Jolo lies in the tropical Sulu Sea, and the island has a wet and a dry season.

The crater was the site of the First Battle of Bud Dajo in 1906, during the Moro Rebellion of the Philippine-American War, in which US forces killed over 800 people, mostly civilians sheltering in the crater. A second battle in 1911 caused fewer casualties after negotiations^[1].

Proclamation No. 261 of 28 February 1938 declared the mountain and surrounding land a national park. The article notes it is not currently listed under the NIPAS protected areas system^[1].

The cone and its crater are the main features. The mountain is second-highest in Sulu province and is regarded as sacred^[1].

The park lies about 8 km from Jolo town.

The remaining forest on the ridges shelters threatened Sulu birds, and the park is recognised as an important bird area by BirdLife International^[1].