#ProtectSierraMadre
Having known as the backbone of Luzon, Sierra Madre is our strongest natural barrier and defense that protects us from the severity of typhoons coming from the Pacific Ocean. It's the longest mountain range in the Philippines spanning over 540 kilometers. Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges covers 10 provinces stretching from Cagayan to Quezon and stands at 6,069 feet.
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Sierra Madre is also known for its rich biodiversity as it comprises 40% of our country’s forest cover. It is known as the largest rainforest in our country and is one of the most biodiverse areas covering roughly 1.4 million hectares of land.
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Sierra Madre is also the habitat of different species of birds, mammals, rare plants, and hundreds of wild life species, including Philippine eagle, golden crowned flying fox, Hawk-Eagle, Philippine Brown Deer, and Hawksbill Turtle in its coastline and many others.
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The degradation of Sierra Madre is one of the reasons for more devastating effects of typhoons. Illegal logging, timber poaching, kaingin, quarrying, and mining leads to landslides, soil erosion, and increased flooding in the low-lying areas neighboring Sierra Madre.
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Mining for example, which continuously chipping away and destroying Sierra Madre, also includes forest degradation, and erosion. It makes Luzon vulnerable to super typhoons, landslides, and flash floods. Recently, super typhoons Rolly and Ulysses affected millions of people in eight regions which caused too much damage to the lives of Filipino people. If we will stop mining that also causes deforestation and erosion, then we will be able to prevent mudslides and floods from strong typhoons which destroys our communities.
For the past generations, Sierra Madre Mountain Range protected us from calamities and disasters. But currently, it is being threatened by human activities which surely affects its capability to shield mainland Luzon from incoming typhoons, and also threatens its biodiversity of wildlife. We have to protect the forests of Sierra Madre if we want to prevent another water crisis and another super typhoon ravaging Luzon.
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Corruption, poor enforcement and implementation of environmental and forest laws, and the lack of alternative livelihood and sources of income for many Filipinos contributes to its continuous degradation.
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The vision of this petition is to raise awareness on what is happening to Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges, and its importance on preventing floods, and other devastating effects of typhoons. Our goal is also to spread awareness to preserve Sierra Madre's biodiversity, and stop illegal logging, deforestation, especially mining and quarrying in the mountain range. The vision of our campaign is also to educate the people in caring the environment, nature, and natural resources.
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“A future without Sierra is a future that is dark and futile, and a Valley without Sierra is a valley that is not a smiling land of beauty.
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Sign our petition and let us save and preserve Sierra Madre! Support this petition and share it to everyone to help us raise awareness. #savesierramadremountainranges #stopmining
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Sign our petition here:
