Our mission is to protect our watersheds in the Philippines.
Imagine a watershed as a geographic region where all the water that falls within it arrives to a common point, such as a lake or a river. Watersheds are separated from each other by ridges or other geographic features. When a water drop falls on one side of the ridge, it flows into one watershed, if it falls on the other side, it flows into another watershed.
Watersheds can be delineated on a small scale, such as space between hills, or on a macro-scale, such as the Amazon basin. Another commonly used term for a watershed is a "drainage basin."
Apart from collecting water, our watershed areas perform a vital role in regulating the amount of water that flows down the network of rivers and streams that feed our valleys and plains.
Watershed protection is a means of protecting a lake, river, or stream by managing the entire watershed that drains into it.
Why is it important to protect our watersheds?
If the watershed where you live is in poor health, impurities and contaminates may accumulate as the water flows from the top of the ridges to the output. Additionally, the health of the upland areas of a watershed affects the quality and quantity of the water downstream.
If the area around watersheds are deforested, water from storms and typhoons hitting upland forest areas will flow down much faster. This causes these natural water basins, dams, and rivers to overflow and flood human settlements.
