Protecting Sierra Madre: Our last great shield

For the past three years, I’ve practiced what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku or forest bathing — unhurried walks in the woods, simply breathing, listening, and being present.

- NIGHT OWL ANNA MAE YU LAMENTILLO

I don’t go to set a personal record or reach a peak. I go to feel human again. Those hours among the trees have done wonders for my personal wellbeing: my thoughts slow down, my heartbeat follows the rhythm of the forest, and my worries shrink to their proper size.

Every time I step into atrail, I’m reminded of how fragile this peace really is — and how directly it depends on the health of our forests. In the Philippines, nowhere is this more true than in the Sierra Madre, our longest mountain range and perhaps our most underappreciated protector. Stretching over 500 kilometers along the eastern side of Luzon, Sierra Madre is more than just a scenic landscape. It is a lifeline.

Sierra Madre is often called the “backbone of Luzon,” but it is also its shield. When powerful typhoons roar in from the Pacific, it is Sierra Madre that first takes the hit, breaking the wind’s force and weakening the storms before they slam into the lowlands. Without this wall of mountains and forests, cities and towns—including Metro Manila—would face even more catastrophic flooding, landslides, and destruction.