Did you know that the Sierra Madre mountains shield us from strong storms? Like waves breaking on a beach, storms crash against the back of the Sierra Madre, weakening as they go along. We should work together to protect her forests as she protects us.
The Sierra Madre Mountains is the longest mountain range in the Philippines. Running in the north-south direction from the provinces of Cagayan to the north and Quezon to the south, the mountains form the eastern backbone of Luzon Island, the largest island of the archipelago. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east.
The Pacific coast of Luzon along the Sierra Madre is less developed as the lofty and continuous mountains form a bold and almost inaccessible shore, exposed to the full force of the northeast monsoon and the waves of the Pacific Ocean.[1] Some of the communities east of the mountain range and along the coast are so remote they are only accessible by plane or boat.
The country’s largest protected area, the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, is situated in the northern part of the range in the province of Isabela. The park is on the UNESCO tentative list for World Heritage List inscription. Environmentalists, scholars, and scientists have been urging the government to include the other parks within the Sierra Madre mountains for a UNESCO site that would encompass the entire Sierra Madre mountain range from Cagayan to Quezon province.