The forest is protected as the ancestral domain of the Dumagat and Alta Indigenous Communities at the heart of the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor. The old-growth forest is home to the critically endangered Philippine eagle and several other threatened species but the area is threatened with illegal resource extraction and government plans to develop a highway through the forest. The Dumagat and Alta have teamed up with Daluhay NGO to tackle these issue and protect this high value area.