Cordillera Green Network (CGN) organizes various study tours and workshops that allows participants to enjoy the  Cordillera region, experience life in harmony with nature, learn about the unique culture and customs of the indigenous peoples, experience the environmental challenges they face, and gain inspiration on how to take action as individuals living here on Earth.

Our various tour information are posted on CGN's Face Book Page. We also plan original tours for the groups. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Please feel free to contact us at cordigreen@gmail.com

For Japanese and other international students studying in English language schools and universities in Baguio City and other parts of the Philippines, we offer study tours on weekends and holidays. Many of people wants to experience a lot of things more than just studying English during their stay in the Philippines, however, they don't know how and where to go to fulfill these. Which is why in CGN, our  experience allows us to tailor our tours to the interests of our participants. Study tours are also a great opportunity for the students to use the English they have learned in practice by communicating with people they meet on the tour.

Tour announcements are posted on the CGN Facebook page.

 One Day Trip to Plant Trees　

 We work together with the i indigenous villagers at CGN's planting sites to plant saplings of Benguet pine and coffee with our participants. The best time for planting is the rainy season in the Philippines, thus the tour is conducted from June to September. Lunch will be served with the villagers, including "Pinikpikan", a traditional bird dish of the indigenous people. 

Coffee Harvest Tour　

CGN works closely with the communities in the mountain to teach the ways of  agroforestry. Since coffee cannot be grown in Japan, we let our participants experience coffee cultivation and post-harvest processing first hand. The coffee harvest season lasts about two and a half months, from November to January. Coffee farmers are very busy during this period. The tour will help the farmers and will give you a chance to see the process of harvesting, selection, and will let you experience coffee roasting. This tour will definitely will be one for the books! 

Organic Farmers' Visit Tour with Fresh Salad and Lunch

Organic vegetable cultivation has become more and more popular in recent years in the mountainous region. Some farmers are opening their farms to visitors for farm tours! We visit these farmers and hear about their organic farming stories. There is also a tour in the organic farms where you can stay overnight.

As an environmental NGO, CGN plans and organizes eco-tours such as tree-planting and other eco-tours. These tours incorporates home-stays in places such as in terraced rice fields. Our study tours are fun-filled and makes our participants experience things that cannot be done in the cities.

Carabao and Indigenous People Life Cycle Tour: Home-stay in the community (8 days/7 nights)

This is a home-stay program planned in collaboration with the Tsuru Environmental Forum in Yamanashi Prefecture. The program is based on the theme of "sustainable living" which is practiced by the Tsuru Environmental Forum. We hold the tour in Malicon, a wonderful terraced village in Mountain Province. The program is conducted to/from Manila, participants came from all over the Philippines and other countries. The participants ranged in age from 19 to 74 years old in our past tours. Although their backgrounds were different from each other, they were able to enjoy the tour together.  The place the participants will stay is a small village with no roads and a strong sense of traditional culture and customs. That is why he participants were able to experience unique life of the indigenous people of the Philippines. It is a unique and tough yet enjoyable tour that could only be planned and be experienced with us here at CGN. 

A Journey into the Memories of World War II (8 days/7 nights)

This tour was organized for the University of Aichi Prefectural University's Volunteer Circle Ruff in September 2019. In this tour we visit a World Heritage Site Terraced Village in Ifugao Province, the last site of the Japanese Army in World War II in the Philippines  (Kiangan, Hung Doan). It takes eight hours of walking with a guide on the mountain trails the Japanese soldiers and civilians hiked for their escape during the war. On the way, we talk to an old man who remembers the Japanese army during the war. He told the participants about the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the war. After, at Baan Elementary School, they play games with the children and had an exchange program with them. We also demonstrated and interviewed a traditional Ifugao wood carver. Of course, the program also included a breather at the famous Hapao stall spa.

Traveling to the home of fair trade coffee and NGO projects

In this tour, we visit CGN's coffee agroforestry operations in indigenous villages in the mountains where students will experience the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of coffee while staying at a homestay. We will learn where, how , and by whom the coffee is grown and processed. Through a homestay with a farmer's family they get to experience hands-on farming as well as getting to see the reality of coffee farming. They will also learn how the fair trade trade in coffee supports the livelihood of farmers. 

Indigenous Peoples and Mining Development Tour

One of the major environmental problems in the Cordillera region is mining development. Environmental damage caused by large-scale mining has long been a problem. But in recent years, individuals and small groups have been involved in illegal mining known as pocket mining.  This is a major environmental burden, it causes soil erosion, soil runoff, and water pollution in the soil and rivers. The burden on the environment is huge, but poverty is at the root of it. The tour will take you to the site of the mine development, the abandoned former open-pit mine site, and will let you meet the people involved in the mine development. Students will learn about mining development issues from multiple perspectives, including interviews.

We also plan and organize original tours on environmental issues, nature, and culture in mountainous regions. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

cordigreen@gmail.com