Forests make vital contributions to biodiversity and provide myriad environmental

goods and services. They sustain a range of industries, generate jobs and income and
act as a source of food, medicine and fuel for more than a billion people. But today
forests face unprecedented and unrelenting pressures.
Forests and forest land currently retain as much carbon as in the whole
atmosphere. Conserving and enhancing forests are a prerequisite – and one of the
most appropriate measures – to address climate change.
Forests cover 31 percent of global land area and alone they contain over 80
percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. They make a direct and very tangible
contribution to global food security, and provide a range of goods and services that
include acting as a source of renewable energy, and playing an irreplaceable role in
climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The contribution of the formal forest sector to the global Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) is estimated at nearly USD 468 billion annually. The value of other benefits from
forests - through the provision of energy, food, fodder, shelter and medicine - is
estimated to be two to three times greater than this, yet often is not taken into account
in economic decision-making and national statistics. Indeed, forests provide indirect yet
reliable pathways out of poverty, particularly for the more vulnerable people such as
indigenous communities and women.
Despite their multiple benefits, forests are under severe threat. Widespread
logging was responsible for much of the historical forest loss in the Philippines. Despite
government bans on timber harvesting following severe flooding in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, illegal logging continues today.

After temporarily lifting the log export ban in the late 1990s, the government has
increasingly tried to crack down on timber smuggling and forest degradation. Additional
threats to Philippine forests come from legal and illegal mining operations — which also
cause pollution and have been linked to violent conflict — agricultural fires, collection of
fuelwood, and rural population expansion. In recent years, deforestation has been
increasingly blamed for soil erosion, river siltation, flooding, and drought; environmental
awareness is now rising in the country.
Environmentalists in the Philippines now fear that plantation agriculture,
especially oil palm, could emerge as the newest threat to remaining forests.

The continuing disappearance of Filipino wildlands is of great to concern to

ecologists due to the high levels of endemic species. Of the 1,196 known species of
amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles in the country, nearly 46 percent are endemic.
Among plants, the number is around 40 percent. Only about 5 percent of the Philippines
land area is under some form of protection.

Here are some of the forests in the Philippines:

The Bohol Man-Made Forest is a mainly mahogany forest covering a two-

kilometer stretch of densely planted mahogany trees. it lies on the border of Loboc and
Bilar towns. Before and after you reach the man-made forest, there are also naturally
grown forests of Loboc and Bilar which presents a thick kaleidoscope of colors of
different shades of green and brown foliage, as well as an amazing variety of trees and
giant ferns lining the road.
One may get to know more about ecology by visiting the Palawan Mangrove
Forest, which can be found in Sabang, Palawan, Philippines. One can only move about
this forest by boats particularly suited for travel and navigation around the streams in
between clumps of trees and vegetation. it is home to several varieties of Palawan
Mangrove trees and different bird species.
Luzon Montane Rain Forests encompasses the high elevations of numerous
mountain ranges including the Northern and Southern Sierra Madre, which parallels the
northeastern coastline of Luzon. Luzon is situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It is the
biggest island in the Philippines and lies at the northern end of the island group. The
montane forests are very precious for the wide range of endemic species. They prevent
soil erosion and protect the good quality of water. This forest is one of the organically
least well-known as ecoregions in the Philippines.
The Higaonon Forest of Mindanao is 500,000 Hectares (1million acres)
covering 5 provinces (Lanao Del Norte, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Agusan Del Norte
and Agusan Del Sur) and home to a number of endangered, including the largest eagle
in the world, the Monkey-Eating Eagle.

Since 1954 multinational companies and illegal loggers have logged the forest
until now only 500,000 Hectares of virgin rain forest remain a quarter of its unique size.

Specifically, the forest is a critical watershed area for most of Mindanao,

including the provinces mentioned above without this forest there would be further
widespread environmental degradation, threatening the existence and the livelihood of
the people.

Virtually a quarter of the world’s forests are in mountain areas. Mountains are the
major storehouses of the freshwater that sustains life on Earth. Equally important for
livelihoods and for environmental products and services, mountains cover almost a
quarter of Earth’s land surface and are home to more than one tenth of the human
population. They have immense ecological and socio-economic significance, not only
for the people living there, but also for those living in lowland areas. Mountains hold 23
percent of the Earth’s forest cover and are a particularly important source of water,
energy, timber, plant genetic resources of major food crops, minerals and recreation.
They harbour a quarter of global terrestrial biodiversity and diverse ecosystems.
Globally, mountains provide 70 percent of the world’s freshwater. Yet, despite their
immense ecological and socio-economic value, mountains are being subjected to
increasing pressure by human activities and climate change. Ecosystems in mountain
areas are more fragile than those in lowlands. The increasing demand for water and
other natural resources, the consequences of global climate change, the growth in
tourism and the pressures of industry, mining and agriculture, all threaten the
extraordinary web of life that mountains support and the globally important
environmental services that mountains provide. These threats are causing rapid – and
in some cases irreversible – changes to mountain environments and to mountain
people, who are already among the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
 Soil erosion has been considered one of the Philippines’ worst environmental
problems and a serious threat to the country’s agricultural sustainability (Tujan 2000).
The Philippines is highly susceptible to soil erosion, given its steep topography, heavy
rain events, and deforested uplands. Given that 37% of the Philippine labor force is
employed in the agricultural sector and that the Philippines has a goal of self-sufficiency
in rice production, erosion and land degradation also have serious consequences for
the country’s economic and social well-being.
 On May 2019, the House of Representatives of the Philippines has approved House
Bill 8728, or the "Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act," principally authored by
Magdalo Party-List Representative Gary Alejano and Cavite 2nd District Representative
Strike Revilla, requiring all graduating elementary, high school, and college students to
plant at least 10 trees each before they can graduate.[10] The bill, however, has yet to
be signed by the President.