The camp brought together young Indigenous Peoples and local community leaders (IPs&LCs), 27 women and 16 men, from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. (Credit: Kristel Quierrez)
Across the world, young people are rising for the planet: speaking up, building community power, and shaping solutions born from lived experience. In Asia, that pulse came alive at the Youth Engagement and Empowerment Hive in Asia (YEEHA!) Youth Camp in Palawan, Philippines.
There, Kristel Quierrez, the 2025 Mountain Restoration Steward from the Philippines, stepped into a space buzzing with connection, courage, and imagination. In her own words, she reflects on what it meant to stand among peers who care fiercely for the Earth, and why gatherings like these are lifelines for youth ready to grow, to lead, and to transform their corners of the world.
Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
The Youth Engagement and Empowerment Hive in Asia (YEEHA!) Regional Youth Camp was held from June 4–10, 2025, in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. (Credit: Kristel Quierrez)
For Kristel, being part of the YEEHA! Youth Camp broadened her perspective of the current challenges faced by Indigenous communities around the world. She gained knowledge on how Indigenous youth can protect ancestral lands and learned new strategies to defend her culture despite inevitable external influences.
“Indigenous Peoples are among the most creative when it comes to showing how the forest can be a sustainable source of livelihood,” Kristel reflected. “Indigenous communities greatly contribute to keeping forests alive because they consider these forests sacred, despite the many benefits they provide.”
Designed as a space for meaningful learning and exchange, the camp strengthened youth leadership in forest governance and climate action. (Credit: Kristel Quierrez)
Indigenous communities continue to face challenges in protecting their ancestral domains, despite being the people who steward much of the world’s biodiversity and resilient ecosystems. Kristel said that protecting ancestral lands goes beyond safeguarding territory, it means continuing traditions, culture, beliefs and indigenous political structures that hold communities’ identities together.
“As Indigenous youth, it is essential to learn how to protect ancestral domains by evaluating different strategies to strengthen the foundation of our traditions, especially beyond the physical appearance of the ancestral land,” Kristel explained. “This includes studying various forms of participatory action research to help preserve aspects of Dumagat-Remontado culture, and actively engaging in IKSPS (Indigenous Knowledge, Systems, Practices and Spirituality). Most importantly, we are participating in campaigns aimed at defending ancestral lands against greedy capitalists.”
Kristel’s participation in the YEEHA! Youth Camp’s ongoing involvement in the environmental space is closely tied to the work of NTFP-EP Asia, NTFP-EP Philippines and UGNAYIN Ph, which supports Indigenous youth leadership in conservation and cultural preservation.
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