“Save” Sierra Madre Mountain Range? We Have To Do More Than Save – We Have To “Conserve” The Resources!

Sunday, 25 Sept, the news in the Philippines was on the destruction by super-typhoon “Karding” (Noru). Today, Monday, the news shared on many a Facebook post is “Save Sierra Madre.” The one that caught my attention was that of Anamarie Ribunal Garcia sharing from Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Office (PDRRMO).

(“Save Sierra” from Anamarie Ribunal Garcia, Facebook)

I'm from Pangasinan (Asingan); it surprises me that only the post from my province’s PDRRMO is being shared – Pangasinan is more environmentally aware than the other PDRRMOs? Another surprise: The sharer Anamarie is from my hometown! Meaning: Pangasinan is far from the Sierra Madre Mountain Range but we Pangasinenses are more conservation-conscious than the 10 other provinces actually located along the Sierra Madre Range: Aurora, Bulacan, Cagayan, Isabela, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Quezon, Quirino, and Rizal. Wake up, Sierra Madre Rip Van Winkle people!

And yes, on Facebook, Rea Reyes Dizon shares (yes, she is from Pampanga, which is not in the range list): “Sierra Madre Mountain, known as ‘Luzon’s backbone’ acts as nature’s shield against super-typhoon Karding!” Now then, like Ms Rea, this essay from me should wake up those 10 Sierra Madre provinces from their self-induced stupor!

Also on Facebook, the UPLB Forestry Society says it “stands in solidarity with the nationwide call to ‘Save Sierra Madre’” (26 Sept 2022).

With its long history, the Sierra Madre Mountain Range is habituated by native Filipinos, native plant species especially trees – and “handled” by nativemethods of cultivating the hillsides, as well as modern methods of logging. How conservation-conscious are the practices? Above, as we can see from the lower image, the Sierra Madre is hardly being conserved at all. The yellowish color of the mountains reflects much lack of vegetation!
(Sierra Madre photograph taken in 2017, from traveltothephilippines.info)

(I was Editor In Chief of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), 1975-1981; I visited Taggat Industries, loggers, in Cagayan, for an article in Habitat, color magazine of FORI. I didn’t explore the area, so I didn’t know how good was Taggat in “Selective Logging,” the conservation mandate at that time.)

What I'm trying to say is this: “If you want to save the Sierra Madre, you have to pursue Resource Conservation. You cannot have a Healthy Planet without Healthy People without Healthy Planet Practices.

To conserve, not simply save the Sierra Madre, I recommend these:

(1)   Farmersalong the range, natives or not – Practice agroforestry and not any “slash-and-burn-and plant” method. They must see to it that the hillsides are constantly covered with organic matter where they are growing their crops.

(2)   Loggers along the range, big and small, practice conservation – Follow the precepts of “Selective Logging,” which allows the cutting down of only certain mature trees with a minimum diameter at breast height.

What I want to say is that agriculture as practiced on the Sierra Madre must follow principles of Regenerative Agriculture. Thus: Keeping soil covered with different crops, including trees. Applying zero chemical fertilizers and pesticides!@517