“Para ma-save natin si Mother Earth.”
The youngest member of renowned P-pop group SB19 celebrated his 24th birthday by planting trees with his fans and donating to the efforts of the Masungi Georeserve Foundation.
The foundation on Thursday posted photos of Justin De Dios and some of his fans who planted Narra saplings on the Legacy Trail, a hiking path where guests can take part in reforestation efforts.
They also “made a generous donation” for the foundation’s rangers and forest restoration efforts.
Justin also called on his fans to support environmental projects and initiatives such as the “#SaveMasungi” campaign.
“Super magandang impluwensiya ‘to para sa mga makakakita and napakagandang project kasi makakatulong tayo sa kalikasan and hindi lang tayo basta-basta, kung baga, may magawa o magsaya,” he said in a video message.
“Kung baga, nage-enjoy tayo, nakakabuo tayo ng masayang community but at the same time, nakakatulong tayo sa kalikasan para ma-save natin si Mother Earth. Sana po patuloy po natin suportahan mga ganitong projects,” Justin added.
The foundation said that A’TIN, the fans of SB19, had helped reached its target signatures for their “#SaveMasungi” campaign last March.
“They are part of our cause and their support always encourages us to continue our work despite the challenges,” the foundation added.
The “#SaveMasungi” is a campaign to save the nature reserve and its surrounding forests from quarrying and “land grabbers.”
Quarrying refers to the process of removing rock, sand, gravel and other minerals from the ground to use them to produce materials for construction and other uses.
The foundation said that such activities have been happening within the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape and the proposed Masungi Strict Nature and Wildlife Sanctuary, which are protected and conserved areas.
It is doing reforestation efforts “to restore the diminishing water supply, to provide sustainable livelihood to surrounding communities” and “to guard against catastrophic landslides and flashfloods like those brought by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 and Ulysses in 2020.”
The Masungi Georeserve is a conservation area and a rustic rock garden located in the rainforests of Baras, Rizal.
It is home to massive limestone formations and hundreds of plant and animal species.