Saving forests in the Philippines — the Masungi Georeserve

In this story, we portray Ann, a Shaper from the Philippines who is the founder of the Masungi Georeserve.

“It’s very real where I am,” says Ann when she is asked about climate change and dying forests. In the Philippines, people’s lives are at risk because of climate change. Water is scarce. Without the cover of the forest, water resources dry out and without the roots of the trees holding the soil, rainwater becomes too dirty to drink. “The destruction of the forest hurts the poor.”

Ann is 28 years old and she is the founder of the Masungi Georeserve: A huge conservation and sustainable development project located in the rainforest an hour away from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Masungi Georeserve combines forest conservation and reforestation with geo-tourism. Tourism helps to raise awareness on the severity of climate change and the importance to protect the rainforests. It also provides necessary funding to employ people that help with reforestation, patrolling and monitoring the sites. “We are still taking baby steps.”

Since the foundation of Masungi Georeserve in 2017, already 63 thousand trees have been planted and every week after the beginning of the rain season five hundred to a thousand trees are planted. Early on, Ann knew that eventually she would devote her life to the protection of the rainforest. When she was a child, her dad would take her to the Masungi rainforest during holidays. There, she learnt about the importance of forest ecosystems — “what trees certain species would rely on” — and built an intimate relationship to this nature. It would be the regret of her lifetime if this place would disappear.

Years later, she decided to study management. Why? “It was quite clear to me that it’s the management of forest ecosystems that was lacking.” Ann strives for a holistic approach in conservation: Besides the pure environmental perspective, she wants to figure out how to close the financial gaps, to engage in legal activities and to educate people. Finally, she wants Masungi Georeserve to be a project that is adopted in many other places around the planet.

If you are interested in Ann’s full story, listen to the Podcast where she explains her daily motivation, goals for the future and how people from different backgrounds could boost conservations of rainforests and other natural ecosystems.

To find out more about Masungi Georeserve and other reforestation projects around the world, visit the reshape website and follow the reshape project on instagram.