Standing up to deforestation

Deforestation, recognized by forest experts as a serious global problem which has not excluded the Philippines, is denuding areas of tall, mostly evergreen trees.

In 2010, the Philippines had 13.2 million hectares of natural forest, extending over 62 percent of its land area.

By 2022, it lost 62.9 thousands of hectares of natural forest, equivalent to 39.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

According to Global Forest Watch, the Philippines lost 158,000 hectares of primary forest from 2002 to 2021. During the same span, total tree cover loss was 1.34 million hectares.

The Philippines, as of 2015, had a total forest land area of 15, 805,325 hectares with a forest cover of 7,014,152 hectares, or 44 percent.

But deforestation, which has greatly altered landscapes worldwide, has become a raging problem, with at many times the purposeful clearing of forested land to make space for agriculture and animal grazing, and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction.

The Philippines, home to a vast array of unique flora and fauna but many of these species now at risk of extinction, has geared up and launched a program to combat deforestation.

The government in recent years implemented various programs and policies to promote reforestation, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity conservation.

One such is the National Greening Program, which aims to plant 1.5 billion trees across 1.5 million hectares of land by 2028.

The program has been successful in planting millions of trees across the country, and it has created thousands of jobs in the forestry sector.

In addition to the National Greening Program, the Philippines enacted various laws and policies to protect its forests.

One such law is the Forest Management Bureau’s Community-Based Forest Management Program, which aims to involve local communities in forest management and conservation efforts, and has successfully reduced deforestation rates in some areas and promoted sustainable forest management practices.

But despite the progress made by the Philippines in its battle against deforestation, many challenges remain.

One of the biggest challenges is illegal logging, which contributes to deforestation and leads to the loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, and water pollution.

Another challenge the Philippines faces is converting forests into agricultural land.

With a rapidly growing population and a need to feed its citizens, the Philippines has seen increased forest conversion for agriculture.

Unfortunately, this conversion often leads to unsustainable farming practices, such as slash-and-burn agriculture, further contributing to deforestation.

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