MANILA, Philippines – An outspoken environmentalist and Agta youth chief in Quezon province was named one of many 2025 Restoration Stewards by the World Landscapes Discussion board (GLF), the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on built-in land use.
Kristel Quierrez was amongst seven younger environmentalists and the one Filipino to be given the award, particularly for forest restoration, for this 12 months.
GLF’s Restoration Stewards Program supplies alternatives and funding to help youth-led ecosystem restoration tasks worldwide.
Different awardees are the next:
- Ngobi Joel of Uganda, forest restoration steward
- Shaik Imran of India, forest restoration steward
- Sydner Kemunto of Kenya, dry land restoration steward
- Raquel Pereira Viana of Brazil, dry land restoration steward
- Zuhura Ahmad of Tanzania, ocean restoration steward
- Baruch Aguilar Mena of Mexico, ocean restoration steward
In response to GLF, Quierrez’s management and dedication make her a pressure for change, mixing training, advocacy, and cultural satisfaction to revive landscapes and encourage future generations.
Quierrez is the co-founder of UGBON: Katutubong Kabataang Umuugat sa Kabundukan ng Sierra Madre, the primary indigenous youth group within the nation’s longest mountain vary. The realm stretches from Cagayan to Quezon and borders the Pacific Ocean, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon.
Her quest for the stewardship award obtained help from fellow Filipino youth chief and 2024 Forest Restoration Steward Jann Vinze Barcinal from Vintage.
The 23-year-old Quierrez mentioned she was overjoyed to have been chosen from 500 candidates from all over the world.
Countering Kaliwa Dam
Quierrez’s group UGBON is among the many organizers of the Sectors and Peoples Completely Against Kaliwa Dam or STOP Kaliwa Dam community.
In February 2023, Quierrez was amongst those that walked 150 kilometers from Common Nakar, Quezon to Malacañang for 9 days to protest the dam’s development as a result of a myriad of environmental and social impacts on the Sierra Madre mountain vary.
“Our lives and our livelihoods are at stake. Our future depends upon it. With out our ancestral land, we will probably be left with no dwelling, and we received’t be capable to examine. For us indigenous individuals, as our elders have taught us: The environment is our life,” Quierrez mentioned.
The P12.2-billion New Centennial Water Supply-Kaliwa Dam Undertaking is a undertaking began throughout the Duterte administration. It obtained funding from an Official Improvement Help mortgage from China.
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System projected that it’s going to provide 600 million liters of water a day to Metro Manila.
However even earlier than development started in 2021, the undertaking has met opposition as a result of impending displacement of indigenous communities and widespread, irreparable destruction to the Sierra Madre mountain vary.
Roots
Quierrez identifies as Agta, which suggests “particular person.” The time period Dumagat – a contraction of “dumaong mula sa dagat” (arrived from the ocean) – was coined by non-Agtas. Nonetheless, the indigenous group is formally acknowledged as Dumagat-Remontado by the Nationwide Fee on Indigenous Peoples. Most of them stay in Tanay, Rizal, and Common Nakar, Quezon.
Even earlier than attending college, Quierrez mentioned she was conscious of the challenges going through her tradition and folks. This consciousness grew from attending group gatherings in Common Nakar, the place elders brazenly mentioned the connection between their land and heritage.
“Our elders frequently remind us: The place the forest is, that’s the place we’re,” Quierrez informed Rappler in a telephone interview.
Formal training on the Sentrong Paaralan ng mga Agta in Barangay Catablingan, Common Nakar, additional solidified her convictions. SPA’s advocacy focuses on strengthening the capability of indigenous youth.
Whereas there isn’t any scarcity of group leaders among the many youth, when elders see a youngster’s management potential, they’re entrusted with larger tasks. This isn’t essentially damaging, Quierrez famous, nevertheless it underscores the necessity to prioritize the welfare of the youth. This concern motivates UGBON’s efforts.
One in all her group’s key initiatives is to coach youth as second-line leaders within the ongoing battle to say indigenous rights within the Sierra Madre. This coaching emphasizes in-depth data of conventional practices and the Indigenous Individuals’s Rights Act.
Quierrez and her colleagues have noticed regarding traits among the many youth: few in her technology converse their native language, and even fewer perceive their cultural rituals. Language and traditions are important to preserving their tradition.
UGBON mentioned a good portion of the proposed dam is situated in Common Nakar, encompassing many websites thought of sacred by the group.
The group mentioned lack of entry to those websites would disrupt the IPs’ way of life and rituals.
The realm can be supreme for practising parey (conventional rice farming), the place indigenous rice varieties are grown. One farming cycle yields sufficient rice to maintain a household till the subsequent cycle. With out entry to this land, the apply might disappear.
UGBON has initiated reforestation tasks within the Sierra Madre, helped consolidate paperwork to finalize their Ancestral Area Sustainable Improvement and Safety Plan, and begun documenting their traditions. Additionally they advocate for the mixing of indigenous data, programs, practices, and spirituality in native communities.
Whereas their journey is way from over, the longer term seems promising.
Regardless of the challenges of reaching Common Nakar – the place some should journey to Manila to catch a bus, others experience a banca, and a few trek for a complete day – 85 youth from throughout Quezon lately gathered and actively participated in an meeting, Quierrez mentioned.
She mentioned they purpose to increase their membership to incorporate youth from the whole Sierra Madre.
“This initiative got here from us, the youth, so I’m optimistic that we are going to succeed,” Quierrez mentioned. – Rappler.com
*Statements in Filipino have been translated into English for brevity
