Philippines Reforestation
About
Deforestation in the Philippines primarily began in the 1960s and has since destroyed nearly 90% of the forest, displacing rural community members. Through the employment of the local community, we will plant over 3,000 hectares (nearly 7,500 acres) of forest land while employing local people.
The importance of this project:
With the support of local communities and the government, the first planting sites were established in 2021 in remote areas of the southern regions. They’ve worked through fully-remote training, communication barriers, and travel restrictions to safely establish sites in Kibuwa and Canitoan. Despite these unforeseen roadblocks, they are working closely with the Filipino community to begin producing, planting, and protecting millions of trees. By taking a bottom-up approach, the Filipino team is helping the Canitoan people in Mindanao claim legal rights to their land. The Canitoan people have a twenty-five-year agreement with the local government to reforest their land in order to bring biodiversity back to the area. When they reach their goal, the government will grant them legal title to the land, meaning this community will own land for the first time in their history. The goal is for them to be provided with economic incentives and easily replicable planting techniques to support them in restoring their local environment and economy.
17% 😧
Of the population live below the poverty line.
47,000 🌳
Hectares of forest are destroyed each year.
20,000 🌳
Seedlings per month produced across 2 planting sites.
40+ 💼
Employees empowered with fair wages.
Impacts & Benefits:
Project benefits include:
- 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
- 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