I have seen many interesting places during my travels in the Philippines, but one of them is Masungi Georeserve. When I first saw pictures of it, I knew I had to go there. When we decided to visit, it quickly turned out that you have to register months in advance, so instead of December, the visit was postponed to February.
Public transportation was not really an option, so I rented a car. This was also good for me to experience local transportation as a driver, as I tried to sit in the back seat so as not to even see the traffic jams on the EDSA.
I hope that by looking at these pictures, you will also feel how special is this part of Rizal.
The story of the Masungi Georeserve is one of the greatest conservation success stories in the Philippines, highlighting how a threatened ecosystem can be saved through determination and community collaboration. Located in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Rizal province, the area takes its name from the local word “masungki,” which means “lace” in the language, referring to the sharp, spectacular limestone formations that define the area.
The area fell into a state of crisis in the 1990s. Unregulated logging, charcoal burning, and illegal mining had rendered the hillsides almost barren. The soil eroded, biodiversity disappeared, and squatters and speculators sought to divide the area among themselves. The founders of the Masungi Georeserve began the fight to save the area in 1996, signing an agreement with government agencies to rehabilitate and protect the area.
The rehabilitation process took decades, and more than 47,000 native trees were planted among the barren rocks. Conservationists faced not only the elements, but also armed groups and illegal mining interests who were trying to violently regain control of the land. The turning point for the project came in 2015, when the georeserve opened its doors to low-impact ecotourism to create a sustainable source of income to continue the conservation work.
The area is now a thriving ecosystem, home to many rare species, including unique plants and animals that are only found in this region. Masungi’s reputation was built on its spectacular “suspended” trails and viewpoints, such as the famous Sapot (Spiderweb), a metal net suspended over limestone cliffs, and the Tatay and Nanay peaks. These structures were built in such a way as not to damage the 60 million-year-old karst formations.
Today, Masungi Georeserve is an internationally recognized example of community-based conservation and has won several awards in the field of sustainable tourism. Nevertheless, the struggle continues today: the foundation is constantly working to reforest the surrounding areas (Masungi Geopark Project), while providing legal and physical protection for the area against further mining attempts and deforestation.
