Triumph Amidst Turmoil: Masungi Geopark Wins Biosphere Sustainability Award

Amid threats to its existence, the Masungi Geopark Project was recently awarded the prestigious Biosphere Sustainability Award at the 2024 Asia Pacific Social Innovation Partnership Awards (APSIPA).

Hosted by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, the award recognizes the project's significant contributions to environmental conservation. Justine Bual, Geotourism Associate of the Masungi Georeserve Foundation, accepted the award on May 4 in Nantou, Taiwan.

The Biosphere Sustainability Award shines a light on the exceptional partnerships in social innovation that promote environmental conservation and underscores the inherent connection between a thriving natural environment and the well-being of humanity.

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This is not the first time that the project was recognized in the global stage. It was spotlighted at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos as one of the best practices in the world for ecosystem restoration and it also won the 2022 UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign Inspire Awards.

Conservation Under Threat

Spanning 2,700 hectares, the project embodies a courageous commitment to revitalizing, preserving, and rewilding denuded mountains despite numerous threats. Unlike traditional conservation models that rely on public funds for reforestation, the MGP's funding is self-generated through low-volume, sustainable geotourism, aiming to supplement government efforts for climate action and ecosystem restoration.

But despite 25 years of relentless efforts to safeguard this vital ecosystem, the surrounding mountains remain imperiled by widespread deforestation, quarrying interests, and inadequate environmental enforcement, compounded by systemic and political challenges for conservation.

Currently, the Upper Marikina Watershed, housing about half of the MGP project site, grapples with a mere 11 to 20 percent forest cover, endangering the water supply and other ecosystem services for nearly 40,000 local residents.

The bigger threat lies in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (DENR) plans to nullify the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) made seven years ago by the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI) with then Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, aimed at safeguarding the nature reserve and wildlife sanctuary. This contract endowed the MGFI with a "perpetual land trust" for the area now known as the Masungi Georeserve. But due to allegations against the foundation, including the supposed presence of a resort in the protected area, the DENR threatens to scrap the contract. 

The foundation refuted these claims, emphasizing Masungi's status as a non-profit conservation initiative and denying it being a resort aimed at entertainment and profit.

"Who will benefit from this plan? Neither the Filipino people nor the environment. Only the large scale fraudulent clamaints, land grabbers, quarries and swimming pool resorts that have lobbied for the project's cancellation because it collides with their interests will benefit from this," the foundation said in a statement. 

The issue has sparked calls from environmental groups for formal negotiations and dialogue to support the conservation initiative.