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SIUSLAW
NEWS
Siuslaw Valley Senior News:
The Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
FAX: (541) 997-7979
pressreleases@thesiuslawnews.com
WEDNESDAY
APRIL
8
•
2015
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
For love of
the land
COURTESY PHOTOS
John and Maria Yager, of Florence, enlisted the aid of local craftsmen in building this traditional longhouse on Mindanao Island,
Philippines. The Yagers built it near the UNESCO World Heritage Site on Mt. Hamiguitan, which they were instrumental in preserving.
One Florence couple’s commitment
to save a rainforest half a world away
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
I
n 1992, John and Maria Yager conceived
of a dream — to save one of the most
unique rainforests in the world, the cloud
forest perched atop Mt. Hamiguitan on the
island of Mindanao in the Philippines, Maria’s
homeland.
Last summer that dream was realized when
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the
rainforest a World Heritage Site, essentially
guaranteeing its preservation and preventing any
further human encroachment.
The journey was daunting, time consuming
and filled with setbacks.
When the Yagers first thought of the idea, a
heavy metal strip mine was operating on the far
side of the mountain, coating the trails into the
rainforest in chromate, which was being extract-
ed from the mine.
Local farmers were logging off the other side
of the mountain using slash-and-burn methods
to clear the land.
“The native people have traditionally done
things a certain way,” John said. “When there is
so little land, you have to convince them to do
A team of master craftsmen built the two-story longhouse from native woods and
materials. The Yagers kept the design “as traditional as possible.”
something different. It isn’t that easy when they
are so very poor. Our intention was to create an
alternative.”
The first step was organizing
50 local Philippine families into
a co-operative to draw people
away from cutting down the
mountain forests and to stop-
ping slash and burn agricultural
practices. The Yagers helped to
The area on Mindanao
Island, looking over the
Pacific Ocean, was de-
clared a national park by
the local mayor. With the
UNESCO World Heritage
designation, the mountain
and surrounding rainforest
will be protected forever.
plant banana and coconut trees to create sustain-
able revenue sources.
Another project of the co-op was to build a
longhouse for travelers who wanted to visit the
rainforest.
“We worked and built this longhouse,” John
said. “We built it completely out of native mate-
rials. With the exception of things like kitchen
counters, we tried to make this as native as pos-
sible. We saw this as an opportunity for the peo-
ple to make an income off of tourists.
“Some of these people are master carpenters.
We started out with trees that we milled to make
the longhouse. Others wove mats for the ceil-
ings. Every-thing was carted up the mountain by
hand. There was no road up here when we start-
ed, only a trail,” he added.
The now completed two-story longhouse
sleeps 30 people. All meals served are
based on traditional Philippine cuisine — no
Coca Cola, only water and coconut milk.
Mining, logging and other eco-destroying
enterprises continued to threaten the rainforest,
however.
“This is some of the last uncut rainforest in
the Philippines,” John explained. “There is no
more than 5 or 6 percent left, at most.”
“Tina Yu, the mayor of the local municipality
where we worked for many years, was able to
declare the very top of the mountain a national
park,” Maria said. “We have worked with her
for many years to try and stop the cutting.”
But national parks can still be subject to the
whims of political graft and corruption.
Something more permanent needed to be done.
UNESCO finally decided to consider the rain-
forest as a World Heritage Site.
“There was a lot of debate on the part of the
UNESCO people because of the open mining on
the other side of the mountain,” John said.
“UNESCO finally declared the rainforest a
World Heritage Site last summer.”
When UNESCO was evaluating the rainfor-
est, the representatives stayed at the longhouse,
the only lodging available on the mountain.
The struggle to maintain the integrity of the
mountain’s natural resources is an ongoing chal-
lenge for the Yagers and the co-op.
“With Maria’s connections, we were able to
buy up parcels of land. We just bought a parcel
not too long ago that a commercial water com-
pany wanted to develop to truck water down off
the mountain. We had to purchase the land in
order to block the water company from develop-
ing a plant up there. The location was just one
mile from the longhouse,” John said.
“Our efforts have been directed at first to pro-
tecting the water shed and protecting the people.
Just like here, in order to protect the community
you have to come up with viable economic
options that also protect our resources.”
The Yagers have lived in the Florence area
since 1995. They grow organic produce, nuts
and fruit on their 171-acre farm, south of
Florence, that are sold at the local farmers mar-
ket and through Real Food Co-op.