MANILA, Philippines - Among the seven sub-tribes of the Mangyan tribe in Mindoro, the Alangan situated in Sitio Pandurocan, Barangay Pag-asa in the municipality of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, are a small community of indigenous people (IP) who try to protect the forest that is their ancestral land. Near the community is the Pandurocan Falls where locals frequently bathe. It is also where the Mindoro Pine Forest is located, dubbed as the little Baguio in Mindoro due to its cool temperature.
Many years ago, food was abundant in the forest, but now it is hard to catch wild pigs and fish that are vanishing rapidly due to massive hunting and fishing. After their ancestral domain was granted through the issuance of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title, the Alangan are now trying to protect and restore the lands they inherited from their forefathers.
Through a strategy initiated by Haribon Foundation in Sablayan, this IP community attempts to restore the forest as close to its original state using indigenous or native forest trees. With technical assistance of Haribon and funded by Value Frontier, an organization based in Japan, they restored one hectare of forest and will maintain the restoration site within the next three years.