Tales of songs of unity for the environment: Masungi Georeserve and Kaliwa Dam

THE Masungi Georeserve is a Philippine conservation area situated in the southern Sierra Madre range in Baras, Rizal. It is a 46,310-hectare land of the public domain and embraced are parts of Bulacan, Laguna and Quezon. As a conservation area, it is closed to mining, exploration, development and other activities that might upset its habitat and ecological balance.

Be that as it may, mention should be made of the fact that when the Department of Environment and Natural Resources by virtue of the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (Republic Act [RA] 7586 or Nipas) designated the area as a strict nature reserve and wildlife sanctuary, the Masungi Georeserve and its surrounding areas were already deforested and plagued with land grabbing, illegal logging and threats of large-scale quarrying despite prohibition.