On June 19, 2026, 60 participants from Manila traveled to the UP Laguna–Quezon Land Grant in Siniloan, Laguna, within the Sierra Madre mountain range, for an early commemoration of Arbor Day, observed in the Philippines on June 25. The activity brought together FEED, the local community, and volunteers in a shared effort to restore the forest and strengthen the connection between people and the environment. Held in collaboration with the International Tree Foundation and the Arbor Day Foundation, the activity continued partnerships and tree-growing efforts carried out in previous years. Together, the participants planted 1,000 native trees: 150 Maraluhat, 120 Bani, 100 Igang, 100 Lipote, 200 Katmon, 200 Talang, and 130 Marang.
For many volunteers, the experience offered more than an opportunity to plant trees. It was also a chance to step away from the pace of the city and reconnect with the natural world. One volunteer shared, “I feel more energetic and healthy doing this activity. I enjoyed walking in the forest—it makes me feel alive.” Another described the experience simply as, “This is literally touching some grass—or more of, soil!” Their reflections capture something easy to overlook: spending time in nature can remind us that our lives are not separate from the ecosystems that sustain us.
The Sierra Madre is the longest mountain range in the Philippines and serves as an important natural buffer for communities in Luzon, helping reduce the impacts of typhoons, heavy rainfall, flooding, and soil erosion. Native trees are particularly valuable because they are adapted to local environmental conditions and contribute to the recovery of natural forest ecosystems. Their roots help stabilize soil, improve water retention, and reduce erosion, while their foliage, flowers, and fruits provide food and habitat for wildlife. As forests recover, they support biodiversity and strengthen the landscape’s capacity to withstand climate-related stresses. Growing forests also capture and store carbon, contributing to broader efforts to address climate change.
The impact of these 1,000 native trees reaches beyond the areas where they were planted. As they grow, they can help stabilize the soil, regulate water, provide habitat for wildlife, and contribute to healthier watersheds. These ecological functions are especially important for communities living near the Sierra Madre, where forests can help protect homes, farms, water sources, and livelihoods from the increasing pressures brought by extreme weather and environmental degradation.
This is where the activity connects directly to FEED’s Ridge to Reef program. Forest restoration is not an isolated intervention; what happens in the mountains eventually affects rivers, agricultural areas, coastal communities, and marine ecosystems downstream. Through the Ridge to Reef approach, FEED works to strengthen these connections by restoring ecosystems from the uplands to the coast while working alongside communities to develop sustainable livelihood opportunities. The 1,000 trees planted during this Arbor Day activity are therefore part of a larger effort to build healthier ecosystems and more resilient communities—from ridge to reef.
The communities surrounding the Laguna–Quezon Land Grant have a long and complex relationship with the forest. For generations, people living near the Sierra Madre have relied on the forest for resources, food, agricultural needs, and sources of livelihood. However, this relationship has also been shaped by decades of forest exploitation.
Large-scale logging significantly altered parts of the Sierra Madre landscape. Although commercial logging operations were eventually halted, the loss of forest-based employment did not automatically provide communities with alternative sources of income. For some families, dependence on timber, charcoal-making, shifting cultivation, and other forest resources continued as a means of meeting basic needs.
Understanding this history is important when discussing illegal logging. It is easy to view forest destruction only through the lens of environmental damage, but the issue is also connected to poverty, limited livelihood opportunities, and the lack of alternatives available to communities. People may understand that an activity is illegal and harmful while still feeling compelled to rely on it when it is one of the few sources of income available to them.
This is why conservation must also create opportunities for communities to become active participants in protecting and restoring the landscapes they depend on. When communities are involved in nursery management, seedling propagation, forest maintenance, restoration, and sustainable livelihood development, conservation becomes a shared effort—one that recognizes both the needs of the forest and the people who live alongside it.
The planting of 1,000 native trees is a meaningful act of restoration and a tangible contribution to the future of the Sierra Madre. Every seedling planted represents a living part of a recovering forest, and every person who took part became part of that restoration story.
But coexistence does not end when the last tree is planted. It is not merely a one-time commitment to one another; it is the continuing responsibility of being accountable for and taking care of each other. The trees need people to protect and nurture them. Communities, in turn, need healthy forests to help protect their homes, farms, water sources, and livelihoods. The forest needs people who recognize that caring for nature also means caring for the communities whose lives are deeply connected to it.
The 1,000 trees planted on June 19 will continue to grow beyond the day of the activity. With proper care, their roots can strengthen the soil, their canopies can provide habitat and shade, and the recovering forest can contribute to a more resilient landscape. What began as a day of collective action can continue to create benefits for communities and ecosystems for years to come.
This is the heart of coexistence: recognizing that our relationship with nature is ongoing. We plant, we nurture, we protect, and we continue to show up for the places and communities that sustain us.
The early Arbor Day commemoration was a powerful reminder that restoration is possible when people come together with a shared purpose. Sixty participants traveled from Manila, worked alongside the local community, and planted 1,000 native trees in the Sierra Madre—not simply as a symbolic gesture, but as a concrete contribution to forest restoration and community resilience.
FEED extends its sincere gratitude to the participants, International Tree Foundation and Arbor Day Foundation for spending this day for the environment, to Forester Rey Lorida, Ms. Rose Bocado and the Forest Guardians of the UP Laguna–Quezon Land Grantl, for their administration, guidance, and facilitation of the activity with us. We are equally grateful to the local community staff for preparing an incredible and nourishing meal that helped sustain everyone throughout the day.
The trees planted that day are now part of the Sierra Madre’s continuing story of restoration. And as they grow, they remind us that coexistence is built through shared responsibility, sustained care, and collective action– the tool we need to coexist with nature—especially with the trees that have long been protecting us.