Winds of changes: embattled Philippines’ Masungi georeserve park faces threat from wind farm project

On one side are conservationists and caretakers of the lush nature reserve, while on the other is the renewable energy company behind the wind farm project.

Illegal loggers and land-grabbers have targeted the 1,600-hectare (4,000 acres) conservation site, prompting the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc (MGFI) – the non-profit organisation in charge of the conservation area – to regularly conduct drone surveys to monitor tree-cutting operations and forest fires.

Environmental protection laws in the Philippines prohibit commercial activities in protected areas without permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Protected Area Management Board.

This includes the Masungi area, which was first declared a national park, wildlife sanctuary, and game preserve through a presidential proclamation in 1977 and closed for exploration and development activities in 1993.

Opposition to the wind farm project from the public and environmental activists increased since MGFI publicised its discovery, prompting members of the Senate and Congress to file resolutions last month urging an inquiry into the drilling activities.

“The drilling inside the Masungi Karst Conservation Area for the planned wind energy farm poses a severe threat to the environment, particularly endangering the local bird and bat species, as well as the delicate ecosystem of the area,” House Deputy Minority Leader Representative France Castro said in a statement on February 18.

Vena insisted that the project has proper permits and that all relevant stakeholders had been consulted. But Billie Dumaliang, MGFI’s co-founder, said Vena never informed her organisation, one of the stakeholders in the conservation area.

“We are the ones that initiated