The Philippines

Reforestation to prevent soil erosion

The deforestation of Mount Malindang in the Philippines has in the past engendered large-scale erosion, with disastrous consequences for farmers in lower lying areas. With the support of Trees for All the forest has been restored and is now being managed sustainably.

Why is this project necessary?

Since 2008 we have restored 206 hectares of tropical forest in the foothills of Mount Malindang, a dormant volcano in the nature reserve of the same name on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. That way we’ve been able to protect 8,000 hectares of primaeval forest from further degradation. Mount Malindang is the source of numerous rivers and streams that feed into the water supply for the lower-lying, densely populated agricultural regions.

The forest has been restored using trees species native to the area. The seeds and cuttings were gathered from within the protected forest region. In addition, we planted an extra 50 hectares of village woodland, to be used by the villagers for building purposes or to generate additional income. Since a state of emergency was declared in this part of the Philippines in 2017, we’re no longer able to monitor this project at first hand to see whether it is being maintained in line with our quality criteria. However, we are able to follow the project at a distance, thanks to GPS photographs and reports from our contacts in the area. This monitoring suggests that the newly-planted areas of forest are developing reasonably well. Pending new political developments, we’ve had to put the project on hold.