As in otherSoutheast Asian countries,deforestation in thePhilippines is a majorenvironmental issue. Over the course of the 20th century, the forest cover of the country dropped from 70 percent down to 20 percent.[1] A 2010 land cover mapping by theNational Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) revealed that the total forest cover of the Philippines is 6,839,718 hectares (68,397.18 km2) or 23% of the country's total area of 30,000,000 hectares (300,000 km2).[2] Rapid population growth, unregulated logging concessions especially duringFerdinand Marcos' regime, illegal logging and mining, and destructivetyphoons have been cited as major reasons for deforestation in the country.
Deforestation affects biodiversity in the Philippines and has long-term negative impacts on the country's food production.[3] Deforestation in the country has also been associated with floods, soil erosion, deaths, and damage to property.[4]
To combat deforestation, the Philippine government has made efforts to preserve and restore forests through reforestation projects such as the National Greening Program. Legislation to protect existing forests have also been proposed and enacted, while non-governmental organizations, Indigenous communities, and the private sector conduct tree-planting activities in various parts of the country.
Data on forestry before 1946 has been sparse, reportedly due to an 1897 fire and World War II that destroyed Spanish and American records respectively. Around 90% of the Philippines, which had a population of less than a million, was forested in the 16th century during the early years of Spanish colonization. By the early era of the American colonization in 1903, this figure declined to 70% as the country's population grew to 7.6 million. After the Japanese occupation and World War II in 1950, forest cover in the country further declined to 50%, with the country's population increasing to 20 million.[5]
Forest clearing was notable in theVisayas, particularly in the islands ofNegros,Bohol andCebu, where much of the forest cover had already been lost.Agricultural expansion continued throughout the 20th century.[6]
Indigenous peoples, such as the such as theYapayao and Isneg peoples who used to live in the Ilocos Region, were slowly pushed into living in the sparsely populated but resource-rich mountains, which would expose them to conflicts with developers in later eras, particularly duringMartial Law under Ferdinand Marcos.[7]: 47
The 1960s and 1970s saw a boom in thelogging industry,[8] with the industry reaching its peak duringthe era of 10th presidentFerdinand Marcos.[9]
Under Marcos, logging took on an increasingly central role in the Philippine economy.[10] Following thedeclaration of martial law in 1972, Marcos handed outconcessions to large tracts of land to his senior military officials,cronies,[11] andrelatives.[12] The government encouraged log exportation toJapan resulting from soaring wood demand during Japan's period of rapid economic growth,[13] and pressure to pay foreign debt. Forests resources were exploited by set-up companies and reforestation was rarely undertaken.[8] Japanese log traders purchased massive quantities of cheap logs from unsustainable sources, accelerating deforestation.[14] Log production increased from 6.3 million cubic metres (220×10^6 cu ft) in 1960 to an average of 10.5 million cubic metres (370×10^6 cu ft) between 1968 and 1975, peaking at over 15 million cubic metres (530×10^6 cu ft) in 1975, before declining to about 4 million cubic metres (140×10^6 cu ft) in 1987.[10] The 1970s and 1980s saw an average of 2.5% of Philippine forests disappearing every year, which was thrice the worldwide deforestation rate.[15]
Deforestation remained very high during theCorazon Aquino andFidel V. Ramos administrations despitetree planting efforts due to corruption and inefficiency in the government agencies involved.[8]
According toGlobal Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2020, most of the loss of forest cover in the Philippines took place inPalawan. Other provinces that have lost significant forest cover are Agusan del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao Oriental, and Quezon Province.[16]
According to scholarJessica Mathews, short-sighted policies by the Filipino government have contributed to the high rate of deforestation:[17]
The government regularly granted logging concessions of less than ten years. Since it takes 30–35 years for a second-growth forest to mature, loggers had no incentive to replant. Compounding the error, flat royalties encouraged the loggers to remove only the most valuable species. A horrendous 40 percent of the harvestable lumber never left the forests but, having been damaged in the logging, rotted or was burned in place. The unsurprising result of these and related policies is that out of 17 million hectares of closed forests that flourished early in the century only 1.2 million remain today.
Attribution of deforestation topopulation pressure or agricultural expansion was found not to be backed by existing evidence in a 1992 study.[18] Subsequent research has shown that intensification of existing farmers and improved off-farm income reduced forest pressure.[19] However, in some parts of the country forest encroachment still happens due to high demand for vegetables.[20]
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Mining andlogging are major causes of deforestation in the Philippines.[21][22][23] Mining operations have cleared large areas of forest land and has led to water contamination, ecological destruction, loss of livelihood,[24] and loss of biodiversity.[25]
Republic Act 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act, allows mining operations to clear trees and relocate Indigenous and local communities.[26] The law allows foreign-owned companies to engage in mining activities. According to environmental groupAlyansa Tigil Mina, the law "legitimizes the plunder of our national patrimony," and that the "situation will only worsen ifChaCha prospers and transnational corporations are allowed to act with impunity."[27]
Illegal logging occurs in the Philippines[28] and intensifies flood damage in some areas.[29] Deforestation caused by mining or logging[30][31] has been linked to such environmental disasters as theOrmoc tragedy[32] and theOndoy disaster.[33]
Deforestation is also caused by land conversion for corporate agriculture, cash crops, real estate, and infrastructure.[34]IBON Foundation cites as example the one million hectares allocated for palm oil plantations in Mindanao, as well asBuild, Build, Build infrastructure projects that will destroy forests, water sources, farms, and livelihoods, and displace local communities.[34]
Destructivetyphoons in the Philippines, such asTyphoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013, also cause deforestation anddefoliation.[35][36]
The Philippine nationalREDD+ Strategy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, was drafted and submitted to the United Nations in 2010.[37] An update to the strategy published by the Forest and Management Bureau of the Philippines showed that as of 2017, the county was still in the early phase of preparing to implement its REDD+ Strategy.[38]
Executive Order 23 was signed in February 2011 banning logging throughout the country.[39]
New mining agreements were banned in 2012 to protect the environment, though existing mines were allowed to continue operations.[40]
A nationwide ban on open-pit mining was put in place in 2017.Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) SecretaryGina Lopez suspended permits for 26 mining operations that violated environmental rules. The ban on open-pit and other mining operations was lifted in 2021.[26]
In June 1977, PresidentFerdinand Marcos signed a law requiring the planting of one tree every month for five consecutive years by every citizen of the Philippines.[41] The law was repealed by PresidentCorazon Aquino in July 1987,[42] through Executive Order 287, which states that the planting of trees "can be achieved without the compulsion and the penalties for non-compliance therewith as set forth in the Decree".[43]
PresidentBenigno Aquino III established theNational Greening Program (NGP)[44] with the signing ofExecutive Order No. 26 on February 24, 2011.[45] The program aims to increase the country's forest cover in 1.5 million hectares (15,000 km2) of land with 1.5 billion trees from 2011 to 2016. In 2015, the program was expanded to cover all remaining unproductive, denuded and degraded forestlands and its period of implementation extended from 2016 to 2028.[46]
In September 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed a law requiring all able-bodied citizens of the Philippines, who are at least 12 years of age, to plant one tree every year.[47] There is no provision in the law to enforce and monitor compliance to this requirement.
In June 2020, the DENR started allowing a "family approach" under the National Greening Program, permitting families to establish forest plantations composed of timber and non-timber species, which include bamboo and rattan.[48]
There are tree-planting initiatives conducted in various parts of the country. On March 8, 2012, 1,009,029 mangrove trees were planted within one hour by a team achieved by the joint efforts of Governor Lray Villafuerte of the El Verde Movement and the people of San Rafael ofRagay, Camarines Sur.[49]
On September 26, 2014, the Philippines broke theGuinness World Record for the "Most trees planted simultaneously (multiple locations)", wherein 2,294,629 trees were planted in 29 locations throughout the country by 122,168 participants in an event organized by TreeVolution: Greening MindaNOW (Philippines). Trees planted during the event included rubber, cacao, coffee, timber, mahogany trees, as well as various fruit trees and other species native to the country.[50]
In May 2019, theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines has approvedHouse Bill 8728, or the "Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act," principally authored byMagdalo Party-List RepresentativeGary Alejano and Cavite 2nd District RepresentativeStrike Revilla, requiring all graduating elementary, high school, and college students to plant at least 10 trees each before they can graduate.[51] A similar Senate bill was filed but not passed.[42]
House Bill 5240, or the National Land Use Act, and House Bill 9088, or the Sustainable Forest Management Act, were approved in the House of Representatives to address deforestation, land use conversion, and other environmental issues. The counterpart bills in the Senate stalled in the committee on the environment.[52]
Environmental groups have called for a review the Philippine Mining Act, the Fisheries Code, the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act to ensure responsible environmental and natural resources management. Environmental groups have also called for the passage of a People's Mining Law and an Environmental Defender's Law.[27]
Local governments, Indigenous communities, and nongovernmental organizations conduct campaigns against destructive practices such as logging and mining. Organizations includeAlyansa Tigil Mina and Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment.[26][53]
The killing of environmental activists has been allegedly linked to mining companies. According to human rights groupGlobal Witness, a third of land defenders killed in the Philippines from 2012 to 2024 are anti-mining activists.[27]
