Sierra Madre is losing about 9,000 hectares of forest every year.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ longest mountain range, the Sierra Madre, has long served as a natural carbon sink and as Luzon’s storm buffer. Despite its environmental significance, the nearly 1.4-million-hectare forest is disappearing at a rate of 9,000 hectares per year, according to the Haribon Foundation.

In an interview on Wednesday, November 12, Haribon conservation officer Nova Peñaverde Regalario said that numerous development projects in Rizal and Quezon are driving deforestation where the Sierra Madre lies, despite it being a protected area.