25/05/2025
𝗪𝗘'𝗥𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗜𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗥𝗘, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘?
A mineral extraction site has recently gained attention from social media influencers, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗹𝘆, 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱, on the other side of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Data from Global Forest Watch reveals that the western slopes of the Sierra Madre, facing the communities of Cagayan Valley, have suffered significant deforestation. From 2001 to 2024, vast stretches of tree cover vanished across the provinces of Cagayan to Quirino. On the map, 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗵, 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 "𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲" 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.
The main cause? Land conversion for expanding farms and human settlements, 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹. A 2011 study by van der Ploeg and colleagues estimated that 20,000 to 35,000 cubic meters of wood are illegally harvested from the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park alone each year.
This longstanding issue in Cagayan Valley has led to dire consequences, including deadly floods that have devastated communities in recent years. And it's not just Sierra Madre, as even the mountains of Cordillera in the central part of Northern Luzon experienced major tree cover loss in the past several years.
Although progress has been made in the fight against illegal logging, such as DENR's several successful intercepts of illegal logs, it continues to pose a serious threat to the communities along the mountain range - 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.
Access the data here: https://www.globalforestwatch.org/
The study about illegal logging: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26393043?seq=9
Latest statistics about our forests: https://forestry.denr.gov.ph/fmb_web/about-fmb/statisticses/
