President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos on August 9, 1966 issued Proclamation No. 74 entitled "Establishing as Asturias-Carmen-Tuburan Forest Reserve for Wood Production, Watershed, Soil Protection and other Forest Uses, the Parcels of Public Domain known as Timberland, Cebu and Land Classification Project Nos. 13, 20 and 53, per B.F. Map L.C.-2383 (2 sheets), situated in the Municipalities of Asturias, Carmen and Tuburan, Province of Cebu.
The Presidential Proclamation was issued upon recommendation of the Director of Forestry, approved by the Secretary of Agricultre and Natural Resources, and pursuant to the provisions of Section 1826 of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended by Republic Act 3092.
The Proclamation ordered the withdrawal from the entry, sale, settlement or other disposition and establish and proclaim as ASTURIAS-CARMEN-TUBURAN FOREST RESERVE, subject to private rights, if any there be, the parcels of public domain known as Timberland, Cebu Land Classification Project Nos. 13, 20 and 53, located in the Municipalities of Asturias, Carmen and Tuburan, Province of Cebu, demarcated and established under Forestry Administrative Order No. 4-901 dated July 25, 1960, for wood production, watershed, soil protection and other forest purposes under the administration and control of the Director of Forestry who shall have the authority to regulate the use and occupancy of said forest reserve and the cutting, collection and removal of timber and other forest products therein in accordance with forest laws and regulations.
The forest reserve contained an area of Nineteen Thousand Seventy Three (19,073) Hectares. The Presidential Proclamation was prepared by the Executive Secretary Rafael M. Salas.
Decades after, the Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act 9486 entitled "An Act Establishing the Buhisan Watershed Forest Reserve, the Mananga Watershed Forest Reserve, the Sudlon National Park, the Central National Park and the Kotkot-Lusaran Watershed Forest Reserve situated in the Cities of Cebu, Talisay, Toledo and Danao and in the Municipalities of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Balamban, Province of Cebu into one protected area to be known as the Central Cebu Protected Landscape and for other purposes."
The law was approved by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on June 7, 2007. The Central Cebu Protected Landscape Act of 2007 ensures the mobilization of resources for the operationalization of institutional established herein, the implementation of appropriate measures and the provision of support necessary for the protection, conservation, maintenance, rehabilitation and sustainable development of the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, especially its crucial role and significance as a watershed for water generation and supply purposes, its associated biological diversity and its integrity as an ecosystem.
The Cebu Central Protected Landscape made all the lands of public domain composing therein to be classified as National Park as provided for in the Philippine Constitutution.
The scope and coverage of the protected area are the Buhisan Watershed Forest Reserve, the Managa Watershed Forest Reserve, the Sudlon National Park, the Cebu National Park and the Kotkot-Lusaran Watershed Forest Reserve located in the cities of Cebu, Talisay, Toledo and Danao and the Municipalities of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Balamban, Province of Cebu.
The first parcel contains an area of Twenty-Eight Thousand Four Hundred Five Fifty Two (28,452) hectares and the exclusion of some portions in the downstream section of the Kotkot River Watershed, Barangay Cabadiangan, within the Municipalities of Compostela and Liloan. The second parcel contains an area of Six Hundred Ten (610) Square Meters.