Biodiversity

What's Inside?
BIODIVERSITY
• Definition of biodiversity and it importance
• The Philippine Environment and the Rich Biodiversity
• Status of the Philippine Environment
Biodiversity is the
variety of plants and
animals and other
living things in a
particular area or
region.
It also refers to the
number/abundance of different
species living within a particular
region.
Okay, So Why Biodiversity is Important?

• We are part of the web of life.

• Every species plays a vital role in the
circle of life.
• Each species interact and depend
upon one another.
"It is reckless to suppose that biodiversity can be
diminished indefinitely without threatening humanity
itself." -Edward O. Wilson (Father of Biodiversity)
Categorizing Value
Direct Use Value Indirect Use Value
(Goods) (Services)
Food, medicine, building Atmospheric and climate
material, fiber, fuel regulation, pollination,
nutrient recycling
Cultural, Spiritual and
Aesthetic
Direct Use Value: Goods
• Food
• Building Materials
• Fuel
• Paper Products
• Fiber (clothing, textiles)
• Industrial products
(waxes, rubber, oils)
• Medicine
FOOD
• Today, most people rely on ~20 types of plants, and only
3 to 4 are staple crops.
• Diversity is critical for developing new strains and
breeds, i.e. that suit a particular environment or are
resistant to pests or disease and as a source of new
crops
MEDICINE
• About 80% of the people in developing countries use
plants as a primary source of medicine.
• 57% of the 150 most-prescribed drugs have their origins
in biodiversity
 Indirect Use Values: Services
• Regulating global processes, such as
atmosphere and climate
• Soil and water conservation
• Nutrient cycling
• Pollination and seed dispersal
• Control of agricultural pests
• Genetic library
• Inspiration and information
• Scientific and educational
• Tourism and recreation
• Cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic
• Community Resilience
 CLIMATE REGULATION
1. Forests and other vegetation
modify climate:
a. by affecting sun reflectance,
b. water vapor release,
c. wind patterns and moisture
loss.
2. Forests help maintain a humid
environment,
▪ for example, more than
half of all rainfall in a
tropical ecosystem is
produced locally from
forest-atmosphere cycle.
Pollination and Seed Dispersal
• Many flowering plants
depend on animals for
pollination to produce
food.

• 75% of human crops

depend on free
services of pollinators;
replacement value
estimated billions in
the tropical ecosystem
STATUS OF PHILIPPINE BIODIVERSITY
 THE PHILIPPINE LANDSCAPE

• The world's second largest archipelago country after

Indonesia.

• The Philippines includes more than 7,641 islands covering

300,000 km² (115, 831 mi²) in the westernmost Pacific
Ocean.

• One of top 10 countries in the world in terms of species

richness, diversity and endemism developed through a
complex mix of ecosystem and habitat types.
 THE PHILIPPINE LANDSCAPE (continued)

• Belong to the elite list of the 17 megadiversity

countries.

• 65% of the species of the 50,000 species of flora and

fauna known in the world.
 THE PHILIPPINE LANDSCAPE (continued)
• Philippines is the longest discontinuous
coastline in the world (22,450).

• International marine scientists have regarded

the Philippines as the "Center of Marine
Biodiversity" in the world, surpassing the Great
Barrier Reef of Australia.

• About 488 coral species in 78 genera are found

in the Philippines out of the 800 known coral
species worldwide.
 THE PHILIPPINE LANDSCAPE (continued)
MINERAL RESOURCES

▪ considered to be 5th mineralized country in the

world (in terms of minerals per unit of area of land)

▪ 2nd to South Africa in gold production

 THE PHILIPPINE LANDSCAPE (continued)

Inland Waters Are Composed of:

▪ 421 principal rivers
▪ 69 natural lakes
▪ more than 100,000ha of freshwater swamps
▪ further groundwater sources in every major
island
THE PHILIPPINE BIODIVERSITY
 The Philippines is considered as a
mega diversity country and a global
biodiversity hotspot, by the fact that
the Philippines have been dubbed as
the "hottest of the hotspots" by no
less than the Conservation
International.
 The Philippines is the
Home of Unbelievable
Unique and Rare Animals
these are ….
 The Philippine eagle
Pithecophaga jefferyi
Parent eagles wait for their
offspring to make it on their
own before producing
another.
Did you know that there are only about 400 pairs of
Philippine Eagle left in the world?
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/news-
feature/2015/10/15/1511043/15-facts-about-critically-endangered-philippine-
eagle#CLc2dhbLH4OFDePp.99
The Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus)
is a filter-feeding shark, very slow
moving, and the largest known fish
species in existence.
 The Giant Clam is
known
as “Taklobo” in the
Philippines.

The Giant Clams belong to the

genus Tridacna (Bruguière 1797), of which Tridacna
gigas is the largest living immobile bivalve mollusk in
There are about 105 species of amphibians with about 82
found only in the Philippines (Alcala, pers.comm)
254 species with about 208
endemic species
With 557 species of birds (Kennedy et al, 2000) with about 196 species
occurring only in the Philippines
With 183
terrestrial
mammals
(Sinha and
Heaney, 2006),
120 species are
endemic to
the Philippines
 ENDEMIC SPECIES….

Species cannot be found in other

parts of the world…..
ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES!
ENDANGERED
SPECIES
 HOW DO WE KNOW IF A SPECIES IS ENDANGERED?

We use a system called the IUCN Red List.

It is the world's most comprehensive inventory of

the global conservation status of plant and animal
species.
The International Union for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is the world's
main authority on the conservation status of
species.
How do we know if a species is endangered?

Least
Extinct Threatened Concern

EX EW CR EN VU NT LC

Extinct Critically Near Least

Extinct Endangered Vulnerable
in the Endangered Threatened Concern
Wild
 How do we know if a species is critically endangered?

Critically Endangered CR

The highest risk category assigned by the

IUCN for wild species. Critically endangered
means that a species numbers have
decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within
Threatened
three generations

Examples: Philippine Crocodile, Philippine

Eagle, black rhino, gorilla
Status of the Philippine Environment
 PRESENT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
• Forest cover is already depleted and about 23% of the
endemic species are threatened with extinction.

• Poor environmental quality has adversely affected human

health and lowering quality of life.

• Human migration resulted in the conversion of forest land

into residential and industrial areas.

• Recent tragedies brought about by natural disasters.

 PHILIPPINE WATERS
• Water pollution due to poor water management
• Adverse impact cost the economy of estimated 67B
annually
• Pasig river, Laguna lake etc.
• NCR rivers are heavily polluted with both industrial
and domestic effluent.
• Reasons: poor governance
 FOREST LAND
• 270,000 sq km at the end of 1898 to only 8,000 sq
km in 2006
• Urbanization, commercial logging, slash and burn,
agriculture, and forest fires.
• Leads to severe soil erosion and water pollution
• Most deforested areas in the Philippines is the
CALABARZON region. Most varied landscape in the
country.
BEFORE AFTER
 LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

•Prevailing problem in the country

•Loss or alteration of critical habitats gravely
affects the resident species’ chance for survival
•Loss of habitat threatens to destroy the
ecological balance
•Such loss of habitat is the critically endangered
Philippine Eagle.
 AERIAL TERRITORY
•4th largest polluted capital in the world next
to Mexico City, Shanghai, and New Delhi
•5000 premature deaths which occur in the
country are caused by respiratory disease.
•1.5 M Filipinos suffer from respiratory
sickness
•1,768,033 million registered vehicles
traversing the roads of MM in 2009.
 MINING SECTOR

•Deforestation, loss of wildlife

•Loss of quantity and quality of water supply
•Decrease of agricultural production,
erosion, and flash floods water and air
pollution
•Toxic waste from the mining sites are not
properly dispose