The award-winning Masungi Georeserve, a privately managed conservation area in Baras, Rizal, continues to receive global recognition for its innovative, sustainable conservation and ecotourism practice.
Located 45 kilometers east of Metro Manila, the Masungi Georeserve is home to 60 million years old limestones and over 400 documented species of flora and fauna. The nature park boasts of unique attractions, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations for nature lovers in Luzon. The 10-kilometer limestone spine and its unique biodiversity, once threatened by destructive human activities, is protected by the Masungi Georeserve Foundation and the community within the 3,000 hectare total land area.
The park’s management, now sustainably financed by tourism income, makes it a model for conservation and ecotourism.
However, despite reaping awards and global recognition, the georeserve continues to face serious threats.
Grassroots conservation project
Innovative conservation measures that include partnerships with nearby communities made the Masungi Georeserve project story a success. In the 1990s, it was already suffering from illegal logging activities. The area, fortunately, became part of a joint-venture development of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Blue Star Construction and Development Corp. for housing alongside the preservation of the area’s natural characteristics and limestones.
Rampant land speculation and lack of government assistance, however, caused the project a major setback—with massive delays despite the project proponent’s full financing and sustainably developing the area.
Together with experts and stakeholders, Blue Star continued to lead and invest in research and protection of the rock formations and the restoration of denuded land.
After 20 years of restoration, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation was born to “fortify conservation, education and geotourism initiatives for Masungi.”
Low-volume trail experiences
In December 2015, the foundation opened low-volume trail experiences to the public to raise awareness on Masungi’s importance and finance the substantial operational costs of managing and maintaining the area. Conservation experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) have recognized Masungi Georeserve’s model as an innovative solution to persistent conservation challenges—such as lack of funding, poor and short-sighted management capacity, and balancing protection and sustainable development.
The late environmentalist and former DENR Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez, recognizing the accomplishment of the people behind the Masungi Georeserve, ordered the expansion of conservation efforts to some 2,700 hectares of denuded land around the original site in 2017 “so that more communities will benefit from increased reforestation and geotourism activities.”
Unique attractions
Besides offering visitors time to commune with nature, the Masungi Georeserve offers unique tourism experience. The “Sapot” (cobweb) is not for the faint-hearted. It is a metallic platform with wooden steps, which allows visitors to walk on a suspended web-like net above the karst. From the Sapot, visitors get a 360-degree view of the Sierra Madre and the Laguna de Bay.
The limestone formations in the park are connected by hanging bridges, rope courses and eco-trails developed by the Masungi Georeserve and Blue Star.
Another popular attraction in the park is the Duyan. A giant rope tied together to form a giant hammock spanning a few hundred feet.
Awards and recognition
Just last month, the Masungi Georeserve was chosen as one of the finalists for the United Nations World Tourism Organization Awards during the UNWTO’s 23rd General Assembly in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, last month.
It was the third in a string of international awards and global recognition obtained by the georeserve just in a span of one year.
It received a special commendation at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UN-CBD) 14th Conference of the Parties in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, in October 2018.
Afterward, it became a global finalist for Destination Stewardship Award at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards in Seville, Spain, in April 2019.
The UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
The UNWTO Awards—the flagship awards for the global tourism sector—aim to recognize the work of organizations and individuals around the world that positively impact and inspire the industry through innovation and knowledge.
“We are very happy to be recognized alongside established and esteemed organizations despite our project being very young and localized. It’s a feat to be recognized by the world’s authority in the promotion of sustainable tourism and in front of hundreds of ministers from all over the globe,” Ann Dumaliang, trustee of Masungi Georeserve Foundation, said.
Under constant threat
Amid the awards and global recognition, Masungi Georeserve is under constant threats of quarrying, illegal logging, treasure-hunting and land trafficking—despite policies and laws that should have protected them long ago, its parks managers said.
“As an example, a businesswoman from Metro Manila was able to unlawfully claim ownership and possession of at least 100 hectares [within] the project site. This particular section of our area is already titled and she has no legal basis to be there,” Dumaliang said.
According to Dumaliang, an absentee claimant or buyer of land in Masungi are adversely affecting conservation efforts, starting with reforestation activities.
“Sadly, it seems as though every hectare of the forest has an absentee claimant or buyer. So how can genuine reforestation efforts like ours flourish?” she asked.
She said it is a challenging sociopolitical context for conservation as corruption, red tape and conflicts of interest abound.
Need for political will
“But political will from the current administration is necessary to make an impact- and innovation-based conservation projects like Masungi thrive,” she said.
She urged “President Duterte to extend the momentum from the rehabilitation of Boracay and Manila Bay to Masungi and other conserved areas.”
Dumaliang highlighted a study which revealed that the Philippines is the most vulnerable country when it comes to climate change.
“If Masungi’s forests are not fully rehabilitated, then the tragedies experienced [during Typhoon Ondoy, or international code name Ketsana] will definitely happen again. To this end, Masungi’s team of park rangers and volunteers have planted and nurtured more than 47,000 native trees since 2017,” she said.
According to Dumaliang, more than 100 local residents and volunteers have been instrumental in the foundation’s daily conservation and geotourism work.
“The UNWTO acclaim reinforces our determination to always win the good fight and to continue doing the successful work we’ve done. If international institutions are already placing so much value and gratitude on a Filipino conservation project, such as Masungi, the question is, why shouldn’t we?” she said.
Government support needed
Dumaliang told the BusinessMirror through e-mail that there’s a need for government support in breaking down the barriers for reforestation and conservation “so that the private sector and civil society contributions may thrive.”
“We know that many groups are interested to help in this urgent endeavor, but because there are so many challenges on the ground, they are discouraged from doing so,” she said, citing anew an absentee claimant for over 100 hectares of land, which they have to fight out to be able to start work in the area. She added that in protected areas as well, almost every hectare has already been sold, when these should be protected by law and by government officials.
“That is what we believe is the No. 1 barrier for true conservation work in the Philippines. If you cannot solve the land trafficking happening, how else do you protect what exists on it?
Policy gap
According to Dumaliang, the Philippines may be lagging behind in terms of policy for innovation in conservation.
“I think our policy is still behind the innovations possible to push conservation. In Costa Rica, 25 percent of their land is already protected through both public and private-sector efforts,” she said.
According to her, legislation incentives to private landowners and managers put perpetual conservation easements or trusts on ecologically rich areas
“Some incentives include tax reductions, training and national government assistance against what they call ‘organized squatter invasions’ which has already happened at Masungi in 2016,” she lamented.
She said South Africa also has strong policies that link conservation, ecotourism and livelihood, allowing the private sector to seamlessly work with indigenous communities.
Moreover, Dumaliang said that grassroots conservation workers should be supported with security along with forest rangers and conservationists on the ground.
“We need to be more progressive with our policies, executive actions, and solutions the way other countries have already successfully done,” she added.
She said the DENR should see itself as a catalyst for sustainable development and not just a regulator.
“We feel that sometimes, the government interferes instead of lifting the work that we and other conservation groups do. It might be because of aversion to new ways of doing things or causing friction with those with conflicting interests. But we have already shown results. Our model should be enabled, not hindered. There is so much that can be done for our biodiversity and we hope that the government will embrace and support innovation in doing so,” Dumaliang explained.