By Gabriela Baron
On World Environment Day, 70 leaders from various sectors urged President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to protect the Masungi Geopark Project (MGP).
The 2,700-hectare conservation area is located in Baras, Rizal.
This, following the looming threats to cancel the Masungi Geopark Project 2017 Memorandum of Agreement between the Masungi Georeserve Foundation and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“With a mere 11-20% of the forest cover left in the Upper Marikina Watershed, the contribution of the Masungi Geopark Project is invaluable,” the letter, released Monday, June 5, read.
“The MGP is spearheading the revival of the forgotten National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, and Game Preserve established by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1977 through Presidential Proclamation 1636, a national park so close and so vital to the capital,” it also read.
The group called on DENR not to “discredit, undermine, or scrap” the MGP, stating that such moves “go against our national agenda and international commitments.”
The signatories expressed “hope that a resolution will be made in a constructive way and not through strong-arming faithful sustainable development partners.”
Through a landmark agreement with the national government through the DENR in 2017, the MGP became one of the largest collaborative reforestation efforts in the country using self-generated funds from low-volume geotourism and educational trails.
As of 2022, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation was able to recover 2,000 hectares of land for conservation, prevent at least five major forest invasions, successfully push for the cancelation of large-scale quarrying agreements with the watershed coalition, as well as plant and nurture 100,000 native forest trees among others.
-ag