progress over perfection

"If women want to change things, we need authority, and authority comes in good part from inside ourselves. It comes from conviction, from understanding and owning our stories, from a strong sense of who we are and what our place is in the world." ~ Sharon Blackie, If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging

Mount Kanlaon rises 8,087 feet above sea level. Located in the Negros Island region of the Philippines - it is the seventh highest peak in the country and the 42nd tallest point on an island in the world.

It is the traditional homeland of the local Ati - a Negrito ethnic group indigenous to the Visayan islands. Traditional stewards of this land - they have been here 40,000 years since the earliest modern human migrations into the Philippine archipelago during the Paleolithic.

Kanlaon Volcano, October 6 - photo by Ronnie Baldonado

We are working hard to move forward locally and culturally to dismantle colonial land laws and embrace a more respectful understanding of the living Earth. In stark contrast, quite depleted areas of the forest and old logging trails tell a different, darker story. The wild beauty of this place used to expand to every horizon before it met a violent history of colonialism. 

The surrounding mountainous terrain are home to 75 percent primary old-growth forests at over 3,300 feet. Twenty five percent secondary growth forests are found in the lower slopes, crossed by four major river systems - the Malogo, Imbang, Himoga-an and Bago rivers. Forest cover has dwindled to only four percent on Negros Island.  

Flora include hardwood tree species (Dipterocarps), as well as palms, orchids, herbs and trees with medicinal value. Very rare is the local species of the cycas tree (locally called pitogo). Another prehistoric plant like the tree ferns and the protected Agathis philippinensis, (locally known as almaciga). 

Kanlaon is the habitat to important fauna including the Visayan spotted deer, Visayan warty pig, Philippine naked-backed fruit bat, and the endangered Negros shrew. It is also home to endemic and threatened species of birds. 

Counting the Visayan hornbill, Negros bleeding-heart dove, white-winged cuckoo shrike, flame templed babbler, white-throated jungle flycatcher, Visayan flower pecker, Yellow-faced flame back, Negros striped babbler and green-faced parrot finch. 

Born and raised in Bacolod City on the flat lands at its base on the western side of the island - not far from the majesty of its shade. My feelings of innate connection to the environment were profoundly altered when I explored the history of this stolen divided land. 

My sense of belonging replaced by questioning my place in the world as someone whose ancestral roots stretch to the dfar shores of Spain and Mainland China - among other lands further shaped by colonization and dispossession. 

On Mount Kanlaon we are exploring ways to develop a reciprocal stewardship framework to honor the land’s rights as well as those of humans also part of this ecosystem. Effective stewards know, love, and understand their local biodiversity. 

It is why we are working to foster an emotional connection to the land, so we don’t lose sight of whom and what we are protecting.