Camp Regenesis

Overview

Facility & Program Operational Matrix Parameter | Operational & Infrastructure Details Niche Classification | Terrestrial Living Laboratory transitioning ecotourism into verified positive-impact tourism. Site Infrastructure | 2.2-hectare communal irrigation dam, gravity-fed upland water systems, and an 8,000-seedling native tree/bamboo nursery. Core Programs | Hands-on permaculture workshops, syntropic food forestry training, and active fire management/rewilding. Adventure Features | Scenic multi-municipality hiking trails (starting from Sagbayan into Carmen), cozy campfires, and cycling tracks. Target Audience | Academic research teams, sustainability advocates, climate-conscious backpackers, and eco-tourists.

Camp Regenesis, the physical base of The Regenesis Project, occupies a 17-hectare mountainous site in Barangay Matin-ao, Carmen, in Bohol’s interior highlands. Most tourism in Carmen stops at the Chocolate Hills viewing decks a short distance away; Camp Regenesis is built around a different premise — active land restoration rather than observation. It is the first accredited Ecosystem Restoration Camp in the Philippines, the third in Asia, and the 38th worldwide, and its programming puts visitors to work on the restoration itself rather than keeping them at a remove from it.

The terrain reflects decades of degradation before the restoration work began: cattle grazing, slash-and-burn farming, and annual dry-season grass fires had stripped these upper watersheds and blocked natural forest regrowth. The camp now functions as a working restoration site rather than a passive reserve. Its infrastructure includes a 2.2-hectare communal irrigation dam and gravity-fed water impoundments built on keyline principles — contour-based catchment design intended to slow and store rainfall across the slope — with the resulting channels stabilized by deep-rooting vetiver grass to control erosion. An on-site nursery holding over 8,000 native tree, fruit tree, and construction-grade bamboo seedlings supplies the plantings, which are set out to establish shade and microclimate ahead of wider afforestation and syntropic food-forest plots.

The restoration work is paired with guided treks along old trails that run from neighboring Sagbayan into the Carmen reserve, and overnight camping on elevated bamboo decks with a 270-degree view toward the Chocolate Hills, where the formations can sit above a low cloud layer at sunrise. Evenings are built around a communal meal and campfire, with land-repair work as the shared subject rather than incidental conversation.

A short documentary produced around a two-day camp-and-hike itinerary with The Regenesis Project shows the trail terrain and the overnight camp setup in more detail than a written account can.

Location

Barangay Matin-ao, Carmen, Bohol. Carmen is approximately 55 kilometres from Tagbilaran by road, in the geographic centre of Bohol. The Chocolate Hills Complex and ATV trail are within the same municipality.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran, take a bus or van bound for Carmen (approximately 1.5 to 2 hours). Habal-habal (motorcycle taxi) can cover the approach to Barangay Matin-ao from Carmen town centre.

Practical Info

• Activity focus: camping, cycling, educational programmes
• Accommodation: overnight camping on elevated bamboo viewing decks; a multi-purpose center (training center, visitor center, office) under construction will add longer-stay accommodation for students and volunteers
• [TO ENRICH: booking contact, fees, minimum group size]
• [TO ENRICH: distance from Chocolate Hills Complex]

What to Expect

Visitors reach the camp via the guided trails, arriving at the elevated bamboo viewing decks, the 2.2-hectare irrigation dam, and the on-site nursery. Since introducing monthly ecosystem-restoration camping sessions in June 2021, the camp has rotated themed programs tied to its restoration master plan, pairing hands-on work — bamboo planting, soil-building, syntropic food forestry — with meditation and yoga sessions. A multi-purpose center under construction will add a training center, visitor center, office space, and longer-stay accommodation for students and volunteers. The Regenesis Project is also a pilot site for the Department of Tourism’s “Voluntourism” and “Educational Tourism” programs, which is how it connects with student groups and volunteer travelers.

Notes

• Source: BPTO Table 11 — Inventory of Tourist Attractions
• BPTO classification: “Regenerative Tourism / Nature and Recreational Activities” / “Camping Ground, Cycling, Educational Tourism”
• Situated in Carmen — Bohol’s most-visited interior municipality; proximity to the Chocolate Hills means it can anchor a multi-activity day
• Enrichment pass (accessed 2026-07-28): programme/infrastructure facts sourced from The Regenesis Project — official site, The Regenesis Project — Municipality of Carmen, Bohol tourism page, The Regenesis Project, Philippines — Ecosystem Restoration Communities, Solutions for Tackling Flood and Drought — Permaculture Magazine, and Bohol’s regenesis: a blueprint for regenerative tourism — ASEAN-Japan Sustainable Tourism Best Practices. These confirm: monthly themed ecosystem restoration camping experiences since June 2021, hands-on bamboo-planting/soil-building activities paired with meditation and yoga, DOT “Voluntourism” and “Educational Tourism” pilot-site status, and a multi-purpose center (training/visitor center + longer-term student/volunteer accommodation) under construction.
• Unresolved — booking contact, fees, minimum group size (2026-07-28): searched “Camp Regenesis Bohol booking fee price contact” and “‘Regenesis Project’ Bohol camping Carmen contact” (Exa/Firecrawl web search); checked the official site’s homepage and Contact page directly (no phone/email or pricing published — only a newsletter opt-in form); checked business-registry listings (Cybo, PhilGEPS/PPMU procurement notices — these give a registered corporate address in Sagbayan, unrelated to camp bookings); searched TripAdvisor and Facebook-page results (no dedicated booking listing surfaced). Note: “Carmen Ridge Camp” (Sitio Tukis, Villafuerte, Carmen) surfaced in search with published rates (₱700/room, ₱35/adult entrance) — this is a different, unrelated camping site in the same municipality and must not be confused with Camp Regenesis; its pricing was not used here. The organization’s current public site is oriented toward policy/consulting work rather than consumer camp bookings, so no live price list or booking contact is publicly disclosed at present.
• Unresolved — distance from Chocolate Hills Complex (2026-07-28): searched “Regenesis Project Bohol Chocolate Hills distance Matin-ao Carmen” and “Camp Regenesis ‘km from Chocolate Hills’” (Exa web search); attempted a ViaMichelin driving-directions lookup for Matin-ao–Carmen (request blocked, HTTP 403). No source publishes a direct road or trail distance between the camp and the Chocolate Hills Complex viewing deck — only the general “Carmen is ~55km from Tagbilaran” figure (already captured under Location) is documented anywhere found.