Nearly 30 Sacks Of Garbage Left By Hikers At Mt. Pulag Were Picked Up During A Clean-Up Drive

As the third highest mountain in the Philippines, it's not surprising that Mt. Pulag is one of the most climbed mountains in the country. Dozens of climbers troop to the mountain every month to experience walking through its grassy slopes and watching majestic sceneries such as the sea of clouds and a clearer view of the Milky Way Galaxy.

This influx of visitors, however, has a dark side. In a recent clean-up drive held at the mountain, guides and porters and other concerned groups gathered between 20 to 30 sacks of trash. Most of these are plastics and are therefore non-biodegradable.

The Cordillera Conservation Trust (CCT), an organization seeking "to provide relevant practical and sustainable solutions to environmental problems arising in the Cordillera region" was at the clean-up drive and posted photos from said drive on Facebook. Check them out below.

Empty water and soda plastic bottles among those gathered in the mountain. Photo by the Cordillera Conservation Trust. 

Post by Cordillera Conservation Trust.

The CCT wrote, "We joined the guides and porters today to clean up Mt Pulag and were horrified by the amount of trash climbers have left on the mountain hidden in the grass, on the sides of camp, etc.. This is one of the main reasons we are pushing to close down the Babadak trail to camping and requiring all tourists to stay in homestays in the Ranger Station area and climbing at dawn to the summit. This will minimize both the waste and impact on the mountain and provide much needed income for the local community. We must have picked up 20-30 sacks of trash littered from the mossy forest to the summit."

The organization's suggestions that the Babadak Trail be closed to camping and that climbers should be required to stay in homestays near the Ranger Station have merits and they do make complete sense. These will benefit the place and the locals both environmentally and economically.

Reforesting The Mountains Of Naguey And Pasdong In Atok, Benguet

If you are to pass through the stretch of the Halsema Highway that runs within Benguet, it's hard not to notice the hills and mountains that have been stripped of their forest covers. The creation of these open and treeless spaces were due to various reasons the most noticeable of which is the clearing of forest covers for vegetable gardens.

This is not to say that creating farms out of previously forested hills and mountains is a bad thing. After all, the main source of income in the province is agriculture. Putting a death sentence to farming mountains would be tantamount to putting thousands of people out of jobs. However, there should be a balance between farming and preserving the environment. It's about time that people learn the value of protecting the natural resources that they have.

Among those in the forefront of preserving and conserving the mountains in the Cordillera region is the Cordillera Conservation Trust (CCT). An organization headed by JP Alipio, CCT helps in building forests and sustainable communities. Last July 26 and 27, CCT spearheaded forest building activities in Pasdong and Naguey in the municipality of Atok in Benguet. Below is a video featuring footage from said forest building activities.
CCT will be conducting more forest building activities in the coming months. They'll be going to Tinoc, Ifugao on August 15-17 and to Tacadang, Kibungan on September 19-21. They will also be conducting roots and shoots trainings. These trainings are scheduled for September 27-28 and October 4-5 in Kabayan, Benguet and Bokod, Benguet respectively.

CCT was also behind the forest building activities done last July 15 in Mt. Cabuyao in Santo Tomas, Tuba. Dubbed #reforestthereoad, pine tree and coffee seedlings were planted in a stretch of land destroyed by a road project. Baguio City Congressman Nicasio Aliping Jr. has been tagged as the one behind the road project. The solon however has been denying any involvement in the road project.