Protect What You Know, Lead Where You Live

 

The 2025 Environmental Youth Summit, hosted by Haraya in partnership with the regional Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office, brings together 100 highschool leaders in the area for a 4-day immersive experience in the heart of one of the Philippines’ most ecologically critical areas, the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park.

 

Set along the biodiverse coastline at our co-managed Sea Turtle Hatchery (one of our projects under Local Earth Club), the summit focuses on sea turtle conservation as a gateway to broader environmental awareness, community knowledge, and eco-governance. Participants will explore how environmental protection, cultural heritage, and youth leadership intersect in one of the last remaining intact rainforest and marine ecosystems in the country.

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Core Objectives:​

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• Spotlight local conservation efforts and challenges

• Equip 100 youth participants with tools for biodiversity advocacy

• Bridge community ecological knowledge and international and national scientific practice

• Support coastal communities of the Sierra Madre Natural Park through education and visibility

• Develop youth-driven strategies for eco-governance and climate action

• Co-create youth groups with the highschool students that center around environmental challenges their communities face. 

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Summit Activities:​

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• Workshops on biodiversity, conservation, and local legislation

• Talks by marine biologists, community leaders, Haraya, and regional MENRO and DENR officials

• Guided field visits to sea turtle nesting beaches and mangrove forests

• Beach cleanups and citizen science activities

• Photography workshop

• Group dialogues on environmental justice, climate resilience, and community action

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This summit is part of Haraya’s broader commitment to building a generation of critical thinkers who act. This is to develop youth who not only understand environmental issues, but who can lead efforts to protect and transform the ecosystems they call home.

 

This project is part of our larger initiative in Sierra Madre Natural Park, under our environmental arm, Local Earth Club. For more information on our environmental initiatives, please visit the website of Local Earth Club, here.