In partnership with the Philippine Forest Foundation (formerly Philippine Tropical Forest Conversation Foundation), the Environmental Studies Institute (ESI) conducted a series of Forest Management Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshops for the Lower Sierra Madre. This area covers the provinces of Quezon, Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Aurora.

The first of the series was held in Miriam College on May 19, 2017, the second in Tanay, Rizal on June 7, 2017, and the third in Baler, Aurora on July 7, 2017.

The objective of the workshop was to strengthen public-private partnership for the management, protection, and conservation of the Lower Sierra Madre. Present at the workshops were the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the City or Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officers of local government units, representatives from various non-government organizations, and people’s organizations. The academe was represented by Miriam College and University of the Philippines-Los Baños.

Miriam College through Miriam-PEACE (Public Education and Awareness Campaign for the Environment), the volunteer arm of the ESI, has been actively involved in forest management since 2004. Under a Memorandum of Agreement with the DENR, Miriam College manages 180 hectares of forest land in Barangay Laiban, Tanay, Rizal within the Kaliwa Watershed, covering 25 years. Through this project, Miriam College hopes to create a sustainable and replicable wildlife conservation model that will serve as Window to the Sierra Madre.