As protests brew against pine tree felling and balling in a mall and resort camp in Baguio City, it is worthwhile to consider that forest loss and degradation on a much wider and harmful scale persists outside the city, in its province of Benguet and in the rest of the larger region of the Cordillera.

Twenty-five years ago, the concept of sustainable development officially emerged with the release of the Brundtland Report in October 1987 and has since been best defined as an integration of three interconnected goals: economic growth, social equality, and environmental sustainability.