August 27, 2025

A food forest in Bacolod

In a neighborhood in Negros a family transformed a once empty lot beside their home into a functioning food forest. When I say “functioning”, it has plants with leaves, fruit, stems, and other parts ready for picking, plucking, and preserving. From the sweet fruits of caimito or star apple to the sour leaves of the alibangbang tree, name a fruit or vegetable and chances are if it isn’t there, a relative of it is.

I’ve been lucky to know Jo Anne and Chinkin for more than 15 years now. From when Jo was still living in California to the now family of four who work together in Bacolod to tend to this food forest. “She takes care of us,” quipped Jo when we visited their home for the first time.

“Food Forest Maria” is a collaboration between her family and nature. Named after Chinkin’s parents, as well as the late Filipino food scientist Maria Orosa, the forest stands in honor of women who paved the way for Jo (and for all of us). She also stands for what was once abundant in Negros not too long ago. The island, historically blanketed by lowland rainforests, has lost almost all of its original forest cover due to logging and agricultural expansion.

Almost 78% of the 2.1 million hectares of forest in the Philippines were removed throughout the 1900s. On Negros island, British and American business paved the way for sugarcane plantations – they not only cut forests to do so, they also brought in British textiles that destroyed the local and long-established textile or hablon market too. During the 1950s and 60s in Negros Occidental, with help from American subsidies, land was converted to sugarcane fields reducing forest cover down to 8%. Remnants of old-growth rain forest below 850 feet in elevation were cleared off during the mid-70s.

Mt. Silay of the Northern Negros Natural Park or NNNP overlooks hectares of sugarcane fields.

What remains on Negros island is now mostly confined to Protected Areas such as the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP) and Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, which are home to threatened species like the Visayan warty pig, the Negros bleeding-heart dove, and the Visayan spotted deer. We were lucky to visit a part of the NNNP in Gawahon Eco-Park on my birthday, where I would see for the first time one of the most unique-looking and rarest Critically Endangered birds in the Philippines – the Flamed-templed babbler.

Flame-templed babbler in a birdwatching guide — We were lucky to see such a rare bird. Here is a photo of a Flame-templed babbler featured in a birdwatching guide.

Other than these Protected Areas or “PAs” that are bound by law to be protected, there are homes like that of the Coruñas. Jo is not only a fellow artist, but a certified permaculture designer. She applied permaculture principles with local knowledge and science to create, or better yet, give way for nature to take her course. The result is a home surrounded by a lush forest, placed there initially by human intervention, but now growing and tending on her own. Today Food Forest Maria is home not only to 4 human beings, but more than 150 species of plants and over 20 species of birds. I must not forget – she’s also home to 2 tortoises, and a cat named Izumi.

A map of the northern portion of Negros island. Northern Negros Natural Park and Mount Kanlaon Natural Park hold much of the remaining forests of Negros untouched by urban and agricultural expansion. Map from BirdLife Datazone.

One of the larger trees in the Forest is one that takes center stage once you enter the rear area – an alagaw tree, a species I can’t help but write about again and again. I know the leaves of this tree are delicious because it is served on a menu at Crescent Moon Cafe in Antipolo. The young shoots or leaves can be used to wrap any number of fillings, some of the best of which include dried coconut, chopped green mango, dried shrimp, sweet and savory peanut sauce, diced ginger, and diced onion – all in one bite. There is also an alibangbang tree, named after its butterfly-shaped leaves which can be used to sour dishes like sinigang.

Alibangbang tree, with leaves that look like alibangbang, or butterflies.

As you walk through the Forest you’ll slowly notice little pops of color, depending on the season. On this particular day we saw red berries from a mulberry tree, green balls of a local citrus called dayap, orange “light bulbs” of lemon drop mangosteen, and the bluish-violet flowers of lagundi. I’ve become particularly fond of lagundi because it is an ancient remedy for various respiratory issues in the Philippines and elsewhere. It is also one of 10 medicinal plants approved by the Department of Health or DOH. Many markets have lagundi tea bags available now, typically at Mercury Drug stores and most large supermarkets. However I wouldn’t be surprised to find it in public markets like those found in Quiapo in Manila (if they’re still there).

Lagundi flower Vitex negundo — The flowers of lagundi (*Vitex negundo*). The leaves are an ancient remedy for respiratory illnesses.

The Forest is a vegetable market and pharmacy rolled into one, with “products” growing on trees. But she is also home to a variety of wildlife. We saw sunbirds, lizards, damsel flies, beetles… all of which have found a home in a place that was once an empty lot. The flowers now provide food for the neighborhood bees, which were then supplemented with a box of stingless bees brought in by Jo. These pollinators not only help Food Forest Maria grow, but they buzz around the neighborhood into other gardens and green areas in the vicinity. With more pollination comes more free fruit and “products.”

A cicada skin or exuviae after molting — A cicada skin or exuviae left behind after molting.

Green spaces like Food Forest Maria do more than provide food for the household. By combining various plant species while letting nature take its course, they create layers of habitat that support birds, insects, and other wildlife. In areas like Negros where natural forest cover is extremely limited, small patches of greenery like this can serve as stepping stones for biodiversity in urban areas where there was once forest.

At the neighborhood scale, food forests improve soil health, capture rainwater, and reduce heat in built-up areas. They supply households with a steady mix of food and medicinal plants while requiring less chemical input than a typical home garden. These benefits help buffer the effects of climate change and urban expansion, issues that are just as relevant to Negros as they are to cities across the Philippines and beyond. To have more food forests like this also means more and more people are exposed to such benefits, and in turn may inspire more people to start their own, and join the cause to protect what is left of our natural and even ancient forests.

Jo Anne with one of the trees in food forest maria — Jo Anne discussing some of the surprises she encountered at Food Forest Maria. Book a visit to learn about them.

Food Forest Maria is a reminder that conservation doesn’t just happen in remote mountains or large national parks. It can also take place in small lots, schools, homes, public parks, or community spaces. While Negros’ remaining forests are irreplaceable, families like the Coruñas show how people can contribute to biodiversity, food security, and climate resilience in their own neighborhoods. What I saw there was not a garden or patch of forest, but a glimpse of how conservation can look like when at home, or “in our backyard.”

Visit Food Forest Maria

A visit to Food Forest Maria includes good tea and conversation, in addition to a walk through the food forest. They also have a forest library and printmaking studio you can visit as well. Students are encouraged to experience Food Forest Maria whether for a project or inspiration as well. To visit, simply book a “forest experience” at Jo Anne’s website Amidst the Green below.