Masungi asserts fight for PH forests as threats remain

MANILA, Philippines — The Masungi Georeserve in Rizal said the “pressure” to preserve what is left of “our forests” is intensifying as threats continue to change.

It raised the concern as it reiterated data from the World Resources Institute (WRI), which revealed “a troubling shift in the drivers of intact forest landscape loss.”

“At Masungi, we see how difficult it is to restore a forest—and how quickly years of patient work can be undone,” it said, stressing that “every surviving tree represents years of care, protection, and vigilance.”

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Since the 2000s, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation (MGF) has conserved and rehabilitated the 300-hectare landscape in the Sierra Madre mountain range in Rizal province.

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Masungi’s statement came on the heels of a recent WRI finding that, globally, fires accounted for nearly 40% of the reduction in intact forest landscapes from 2020 to 2025, up from 21.2% from 2000 to 2013.

Mining and exploration also increased their share from 12.1% to 18.8%, while roads and linear infrastructure rose from 2% to 7.5%.

“These figures remind us that forests face multiple, often overlapping threats. And as climate change intensifies droughts and fire risks, protecting what remains becomes even more urgent,” it said.

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For Masungi, restoration matters, “but preventing destruction in the first place matters just as much.”

It said “protecting our remaining forests means confronting the activities that threaten them, strengthening environmental safeguards, and standing behind the people who defend these landscapes every day.” /dm