Read more: Visit websiteA nature reserve in the Philippines, which has been lauded by top climate activists and film stars, has come under a concerted disinformation attack on social media as it fights to continue its work, a BBC investigation has found.
A network of nearly 100 fake Facebook accounts and pages were found to be spreading misleading claims about the Masungi Georeserve and its keepers. Most were taken down after the BBC asked Meta, Facebook's parent company, about these accounts.
Despite gaining international recognition for its reforestation efforts in the fight against climate change, the reserve is under pressure from illegal loggers, land grabbers, and quarrying companies.
It is not clear who controlled the network, but evidence seen by the BBC suggests that a public relations consultant who states on his social media profile that he has expertise in "reputation management" was linked to pages involved in the campaign.
Located east of Manila, the Masungi reserve is a popular eco-tourism destination, known for its lush rainforest and gravity-defying limestone formations. Supporters include climate activist Greta Thunberg and Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio.
The reserve has been trying to fend off illegal business activities for years, but this particular smear campaign is understood to have started in recent months.
"We've seen misleading information, trying to manufacture dissent against work that we do as environment defenders," says Billie Dumaliang from the Masungi Georeserve Foundation.
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