Brewing Climate Resilience in Baguio’s Mini-Forest
By: Nonnette C. Bennett
San Pablo Seminary’s lot covers two hectares where one hectare is preserved as the Minuyungan Hermitage with coffee trees planted under the pine trees and other foliage in a sustainable system for coffee beans that are a source of education and livelihood for senior women and the youth in the Our Lady of Grace Parish.
A Tradition Reborn
In the misty highlands of the Philippines, the Ifugao people have long nurtured the muyung—a clan forest that serves as both sanctuary and source of life. In Baguio City’s Crystal Cave area, this tradition finds new roots in the Minuyungan Hermitage at San Pablo Seminary, where pine trees shelter a thriving coffee plantation. What began as a cultural echo has now become a living response to climate change, sustained by the hands of parishioners from Our Lady of Grace Church.
Coffee seedlings are planted by Our Lady of Grace Parishioners under the pine trees and among the other plants growing naturally at the Minuyungan Hermitage of San Pablo Seminary at Crystal Cave, Bakakeng Central Barangay in Baguio City.
From Beans to Bonds
It all started with a simple act: Parish priest Rev. Fr. Shierwin Cabunilas pounding dried coffee beans behind the rectory. His demonstration of roasting, grinding, and brewing sparked curiosity among senior volunteers, who soon found themselves harvesting ripe cherries in the seminary’s forested slopes.
For Evangeline Gonzales, 72, the experience was more than farm work—it was a reconnection to her roots as a farmer’s daughter, a pride she thought she had lost in the city.
Planting Against the Floods
From harvesting came planting. Maria Concepcion Diamoy, 60, recalls how pruning coffee trees led to planting new ones alongside pine saplings during the rainy season. For her, each seedling was not just a crop but a contribution to flood mitigation—a small act against the growing threats of climate change.
A Cycle of Sustainability
“It is now a whole process of planting, pruning, harvesting, drying, selecting, pounding, roasting, weighing, and packing,” explains Teresita Celestino, 62. What began as volunteer work evolved into the Minuyungan Livelihood Association, where youth and elders collaborate to keep the forest alive and the coffee flowing.
Women at the Our Lady of Grace Parish sort the coffee beans that are for roasting and for fertilizing after the cherries are harvested and dried.
Youthful Creativity, Shared Purpose
The initiative has become intergenerational. College students like Elisa Bukahan and Ruana Tanghin lend their creativity to designing labels for the roasted beans, proving that climate action can be as much about artistry and community as it is about soil and sweat.
Even those with physical limitations, like Brigida Padilan, 58, find ways to participate—learning about organic fertilizers and contributing to the nurturing of the forest.
Science in the Shade
The science behind their work is simple yet profound. Coffee trees, when grown under pine cover, create a symbiotic mini-forest that requires little intervention. The canopy regulates temperature, keeping the seminary’s microclimate steady between 22.6°C and 25.8°C—an oasis of stability in a city increasingly burdened by urban heat.
As Cristina Uban, 61, notes, “Coffee is a species that endures for decades, making it a natural ally in climate resilience.”
A Green Classroom
For Fr. Shierwin, the Hermitage is more than a plantation. It is a green classroom, a living laboratory where parishioners and visitors learn the value of biodiversity, sustainable farming, and the joy of stewardship. The café that serves coffee from the harvests is not just a place to sip—it is a place to taste the fruits of climate action.
Cooling the City, One Bean at a Time
In a city where concrete sprawls and temperatures rise, the Minuyungan Hermitage stands as a reminder: climate change is not only fought in global conferences or government halls. It is resisted in gardens, in forests, and in the hands of ordinary people who choose to plant, nurture, and sustain.
Here, in Baguio’s Crystal Cave, every cup of coffee brewed is more than a drink—it is a story of resilience, a sip of hope, and a testament to how communities can cool their corner of the world, one tree and one bean at a time.
This story is supported by Earth Journalism Network.
