The Masungi Georeserve is a conservation area in the Philippines situated in the southern Sierra Madre range in Baras, Rizal, 47 kilometres east of Manila. It centers on the geological formations of Masungi Rock, at an elevation of 640 metres.

Masungi’s history originates in the 1990s when, what is now the Masungi Georeserve and its surrounding areas, were once deforested and overridden by an epidemic of land-grabbing activities. It is home to limestone formations dating back 60 million years that were the subject of rampant environmental degradation and real estate speculation at the time.

After twenty years of daunting dedicated conservation work, it has been coming back to life and is nowadays a sanctuary for more than 400 species of flora and fauna, many of which are endemic to the Philippines. Masungi offers a variety of nature activities focused on geotourism. They offer trail experiences to limited visitor numbers guided by experienced rangers to finance their conservation mission, and are generating domestic and international acclaim for their spider webs and rope courses where visitors are floating above the tropical rainforest canopy.

Masungi wishes to “continuously, sustainably, and independently fund and operate" their conservation activities for the long term future.       

Conservation Highlights:

1. School programs such as the Young Explorers Program where students course through selected portions of the popular Discovery Trail. In a 1.5 - 2.5 hours experience, students take a leisurely walk to learn about the history of Masungi, the efforts to conserve its nature, and the sustainable tourism and development practices.
2. Company projects to promote team building like the Nurture-A-Grove Project where executives and employees alike are able to connect with nature amidst the grassland landscape, and directly contribute to the reforestation activities on the Masungi Geopark Project site.
3. Masungi and partners deploy enhanced forest protection solutions and monitoring trails in critical areas of the Masungi Geopark Project. This comes as a response to threats of quarrying, forest fires, hunting of wildlife, landgrabbing and logging in its reforestation areas during the lockdowns.
4. Planting and nurturing of 59.000 native trees as achieved until 2020.
5. Constant empowerment of upland and indigenous communities through education and scholarships as well as relief drives and health care services during the pandemic.
6. In 2018, Masungi Georeserve was honored as a global model for conservation innovation and excellence through the Pathfinder Awards (United Nations Development Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Commission on Protected Areas and WildArk).

Future Aims:

1. Launching an interactive learning platform 'Masungi 360°: Virtual Field Trips for Young Conservationists'
2. Continued protection of Masungi Georeserve and Marikina Watershed
3. Constantly exposing illegal occupation, land grabbing and mining interests with a success of saving 1.000 ha of forest from encroachment and extractives in 2020. Ongoing monitoring through camera traps, drones and solar lights.

Images provided.