Once upon a time, much of the area we know now as Metropolitan Manila was a heavily forested area lying on the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range in Eastern Luzon.
The situation changed beginning the 1960’s and the growing urbanization of the metropolis that arose beginning that period. The thick forests had to give way to business districts and residential complexes to meet the growing needs of a growing population.
There is, however, one significant part of the metropolis that still has its forested vegetation intact, which happens to be the most important part of the metropolis. The area we are referring to here would be the La Mesa Watershed.
