The Philippines
Deforestation in the Philippines primarily began in the 1960s and has since destroyed nearly 90% of the forest, displacing rural community members.
Why restore in the Philippines?
Logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, land development, and forest fires are major factors contributing to the high deforestation rate in the Philippines. Starting in the 1960s, Philippine mahogany was cut down almost entirely to extinction. The disappearance of these trees led to soil erosion, contaminated waterways, and indigenous communities displaced from their land. As more forest is lost, biodiversity drops, plant, and animal species go extinct, and indigenous communities lose the productivity of their land.
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47,000 hectares
of forest are destroyed each year
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17% of the population
live below the poverty line
How we started
With the support of local communities and the government, we established our first sites in 2021 in remote areas of the southern regions. Our team worked through fully-remote training, communication barriers, and travel restrictions to safely establish sites in Kibuwa and Canitoan. Despite these unforeseen roadblocks, our team is working closely with the Filipino community to restore their local environment.
Where we're working
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Bukidnon
Kibuwa Site
- Preserving the local forest and montane rainforest on indigenous land
Working with the local community to address fire prevention and management
Training and implementing sustainable farming practices
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Misamis Oriental
Canitoan-Pagatpat Site
Helping the community fulfill an agreement with their government to legally acquire the land they inhabit through reforestation
Implementing agroforestry techniques to promote food security
Protecting the forests and communities from logging
Our progress to date
In the first year of work, despite strict lockdown guidelines, our Philippines team partnered with indigenous groups to develop two nurseries, each with a capacity of 20,000 seedlings per month, and now have five active project sites.
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16,045+ hectares
under management
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85+ individuals
employed in underserved geographies