critical review qualitative research

critical review qualitative research

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Biodiversity

The lay of the land: ecosystem diversity in the philippines.

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Viewing biodiversity at the ecosystem level is a holistic way of appreciating and analyzing the natural richness of the Philippines, taking in consideration the dynamic ecological functions and interactions of both the living and the non-living parts of the biosphere within a given location, as well as the impacts of natural phenomena and human-caused environmental changes upon them.

The Philippines’s widely varied geographic features – from isolated islands surrounded by water, to staggered mountain ranges, to the various inland waters within them – make the country conducive to the survival of many types of ecosystems. (FPE)

Here in this country, topography varies to a great extent, ranging from coastal wetlands to upland region watersheds. It follows, thus, that the country is home to several types of ecosystems, which can be classified according to their defining features as follows:

Some further detailed discussions of various ecosystem types found in the Philippines follow below.

Forest Ecosystem

Forests are inherently diverse ecosystems, as conditions found within them are ideal for supporting symbiotic ecological relationships. This is especially so in the Philippines, where the tropical climate allows forests to receive, absorb, and redistribute rainwater to support life not only within themselves, but also to other nearby and adjacent ecosystems where the water reserves are released.

Primarily, forests serve as the country’s most important source of water, thus allowing all other forms of natural resources to flourish and become productive. Forest ecosystems naturally provide clean air and food in the process. In addition, these resources also contribute through power (electricity) generation, and by providing protection as a raw material for houses and other forms of shelter. They also offer indirect benefits, such as by functioning as buffer zones from storms and prevention of soil erosion. Forests support human livelihood, although proper management and conscious conservation efforts are emphatically required in this sense.

Unfortunately, forests are heavily prone to abuse and exploitation. Over the last century, human populations consumed and altered forest landscapes in favor of agricultural development and urbanization. It is estimated that from having 70% forest cover at the start of the 1900s, only about 24% remain, based on 2001-03 satellite imagery, according to the DENR’s Forest Management Bureau. Meanwhile, according to the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, “deforestation continues at an average of 100,000 hectares per year or 273 hectares per day.”

The problem of forest degradation and destruction continues due to the prevalence of logging practices both legal and otherwise, mining, and land conversion. This, despite more proactive measures being undertaken to restore them at present. While initiatives such as the DENR’s National Greening Program are in place and already being executed, forests still suffer due to generally poor state-level policy-making that support activities such as logging and mining for commercial gain.

Further reading: 

  • FPE & USAID - Upscaling Forest Reforestation in Key Biodiversity Areas
  • DENR-FMB - 2011 Philippine Forestry Statistics
  • DENR - National Greening Program

Mangrove Ecosystem

Another prominent type of ecosystem that naturally occurs in the Philippines, given the multitude of coastal areas of this country, is the mangrove ecosystem. Mangroves are medium-size and highly tolerant flora that can survive in brackish water (water which is more saline than freshwater, but not as much as seawater). The Philippines boasts having more than half of the world’s 70 mangrove species.

People draw benefits from mangrove systems as they serve as breeding and feeding grounds for local terrestrial and aquatic species, while also being “stop-over sites” for migratory species. They also contribute to ecological balance by stabilizing and minimizing sedimentation and siltation in coral reefs, while also facilitating the increase of land area by way of accumulated soil and debris.

While mangrove ecosystems are already dynamic and unstable environments due to their location, they are also commonly threatened by human interaction due to the utilization and consumption of coastal communities.

Further reading:

  • RAMSAR - Annotated List of Wetlands of International Importance: Philippines (2013)
  • UN-FAO - Mangrove Guidebook for Southeast Asia (2006/2007)
  • DENR-Coastal Resource Management Project & USAID - Mangrove Management Handbook (2000)

Agricultural Ecosystem

Agricultural ecosystems are artificial ecosystems created in the process of developing land and coastal/aquatic areas for farming, animal husbandry, and fishing.

Since agriculture evolved to bring about gains for human societies, it follows that people have continued to draw numerous benefits from these types of ecosystems. It has served as people’s primary source of sustenance and livelihood, as well as other basic needs, for generations. In the case of the Philippines, it is historically one of the primary economic drivers for the country.

There are approximately 1,210 local agricultural plant species here, over a third of which has food value. Agriculture also supports other cash crops for feed, medicinal/herbal, ornamental, and industrial values. Rice, corn, and coconut are the main types of produce obtained through agriculture in the Philippines.

It can be said that agricultural ecosystems are both threatened and serve as a threat to other ecosystems as well, despite their unquestionable socio-economic importance. On one hand, continuous urban development for residential and commercial land use is encroaching on agricultural lands. In turn, farmers are forced to move upland, harming forest ecosystems in the process.

Another important issue that needs to be addressed in matters regarding agriculture is the debate involving high value hybrid crops and genetically modified organisms that was sparked by the so-called Green Revolution of the 1960s. While these applications of modern biotechnology are developed with the benefit of humankind in mind (i.e. increasing food supply and ensuring world food security), the environmental and human health risks involved in the propagation of such crops have yet to be adequately studied and are thus still much-debated in the overall biodiversity protection and conservation campaign.

  • Philippine Clearing House Mechanism for Biodiversity - Agricultural Biodiversity
  • UN-FAO - Weighing the GMO Arguments: Against
  • UN-FAO - Weighing the GMO Arguments: For

Marginal Ecosystem

Marginal ecosystems are those that are located between two ecosystems. These can be either natural or artificial, such as areas adapted or reappropriated for agricultural use. Marginal lands now comprise about 70% (over 11 million hectares) of declared forest area in the Philippines.

Urban Ecosystem

Urban ecosystems are the product of modernized, industrialized human society. These function as the base of human settlements, as well as economic development. They are a testament to the economic, academic, and technological progress that humankind has achieved through generations. That said, they are still rapidly expanding, often to the detriment of natural ecosystems.

(Source:  de.wallpaperswiki.org )

Although urban ecosystems continue to grow,in terms of geographic and demographic sizes alike, their carrying capacities remain limited. The draw of “greener pastures” in urban locales tend to result in over-population that strains limited resources, making these ecosystems increasingly impractical and hazardous to the health and well-being of its inhabitants. 

  • WHO - Urbanization and Health
  • Study: Urbanization Process and the Changing Agricultural Landscape Pattern in the Urban Fringe of Metro Manila, Philippines (2007)

Coral Reef Ecosystem

Whereas forests are a distinctive feature of the Philippines’s terrestrial biodiversity, coral reefs give the country a likewise sterling reputation when it comes to aquatic ecosystems. Owning 5% of the world’s total 617,000 sq km of coral reefs, the Philippines is part of the world’s “Coral Triangle,” joining Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste as countries that bear the most extensive coral reef ecosystems in the world. In fact, Verde island in Batangas has been noted to be “the center of the center” of marine biodiversity in the world.

Coral reefs are comprised of massive deposits of calcium carbonate that take centuries to produce and develop. Because of such a long process, coral reefs are very delicate ecosystems and are due extensive protective measures. A recent example of damage occurred at the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea in January 2013, where approximately 1,000 square meters of coral reef was damaged.

These ecosystems are the natural habitat of fish species and other marine organisms, where feeding, breeding, and spawning happens at incredibly productive levels. They also serve as natural breakwaters that protect coastal areas from waves and storms, facilitate coralline sand production that create remarkable white sand beaches that are a hit among tourists, and enable oxygen production through supporting photosynthetic algae. Coral reefs also offer significant educational value for biological and ecological study

Coral reef damage is a serious concern. As of 2006, only 5% of Philippine coral reefs are in excellent condition, while 32% are already severely damaged (Haribon, 2006). The World Resources Institute more recently reports that 85% of the reefs in the Coral Triangle as  a whole are threatened (WRI, 2013), shadowing the global average which stands at 60%.

  • FPE & Diliman Science Research Foundation - Devolution of Power and Per Municipality Approach to Marine Biodiversity Conservation (2012)
  • WRI - Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle (2012)
  • DA-BFAR - Marine Protected Areas: Philippine Coral Reefs
  • ADB - Comprehensive Action Plans of the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion: A Priority Seascape of the Coral Triangle Initiative (2011)

Freshwater Ecosystem

Freshwater ecosystems occur in in-land bodies of water and may either be flowing, standing, or man-made. Rivers and streams, lakes and reservoirs, and artificial fishponds are examples that fall into the three respective categories. All of these are distinguished by low-salinity water that flow from the natural rainwater catch basins created by forests.  

Freshwater ecosystems serve many practical benefits to people, including being a cheap and convenient source of water for domestic and industrial use, a natural waste disposal system, and a reservoir for the natural water cycle. Freshwater bodies also can serve as transport routes.

This type of ecosystem is commonly put in peril by the need for draining to serve the purposes of fisheries and agriculture.

  • DA-BFAR - Managing Aquaculture and its Impacts: A Guidebook for Local Governments (2007)
  • UN-FAO - National Aquaculture Sector Overview: Philippines
  • World Bank - Growing Aquaculture in Sustainable Ecosystems (2013)

Seagrass and Soft-Bottom Ecosystems

Seagrass ecosystems comprise of aquatic flowering plants that can live in seawater. These types of ecosystems occur in shallow water environments. 

Primarily, seagrass supports biodiversity by functioning as a food source for grazing and detritus-feeding creatures. They can also be a nursery for young fish, crustaceans, and other reef organisms. In addition, seagrass is able to recycle nutrients from sediments back to the open sea, while also functioning to stabilize sediments, ensuring the integrity of the seabed. As such, seagrass also functions as a buffer against wave or storm-related damage to its immediate vicinity, protecting the life forms that make it their natural habitat. 

Another type of aquatic/marine ecosystem is the soft bottom ecosystem, which is an area where sediments have accumulated. Organic matter, coming from plants and animals and other sources of nutrients, settle at the bottom and become food for deposit-feeders, bottom-dwelling fish, as well as for invertebrates, decomposers, and microbial life forms. Soft bottom ecosystems vary based on the size and grain of the sediments.

Same with majority of marine ecosystems in the Philippines, unsustainable fishing and aquaculture practices are the main threats to seagrass and soft-bottom ecosystems. Worse yet, with majority of the attention for conservation efforts being concentrated on terrestrial, wetland, and coral reef ecosystems, these equally important and diversity-rich ecosystems tend to be overlooked.

  • Philippine Clearing House Mechanism for Biodiversity - Seagrasses
  • OneOcean.org - The Philippines’ Forgotten Resource: Seagrass and its Management
  • ReefBase.org - Seagrass Ecosystem of the Philippines: Status, Problems and Management Directions
  • Catibog-Sinha CS, Heaney LR. 2006. Philippine Biodiversity: Principles and Practice. Quezon City, Philippines: Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Inc.
  • Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Forest Management Bureau (DENR-FMB). 2011. 2011 Philippine Forestry Statistics. Quezon City, Philippines: Forest Economics Division. (Online: http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/2011PFS.pdf )
  • Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation (PTFCF). Undated. Fast Facts. Last accessed on February 13, 2014, http://www.ptfcf.org .
  • Carpenter KE, Springer VG. 2004. The Center of the Center of Marine Shorefish Biodiversity: The Philippine Islands. Environmental Biology of Fishes (2005) 72: 467-480. (Online: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10641-004-3154-4#page-1 ) 
  • Life All Around: The Distribution of Biodiversity
  • The Biogeographic Regions of the Philippines
  • The Philippine Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)
  • Hub of Life: Species Diversity in the Philippines
  • How Endemism Happens
  • Philippine Species: A Unique and Distinct Multitude
  • The Watershed Perspective in Forest Resource Conservation

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

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Issue Cover

Article Contents

Emergence of environmental consciousness, effective actions: implementing conservation through civil society, progress in protected areas and resource management, research and returns from the grave, networking conservation, issues and challenges, conclusions, acknowledgements, references cited.

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Hope for Threatened Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons from the Philippines

Mary Rose C. Posa (e-mail: [email protected] ) is an instructor at the Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, and a graduate student at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Arvin C. Diesmos is a researcher at the National Museum of the Philippines (Manila) and a graduate student at NUS. Navjot S. Sodhi is a professor at NUS working on biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asia. Thomas M. Brooks is a conservation biologist with the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International in Arlington, Virginia, and the World Agroforestry Center at the University of the Philippines; he also holds a visiting position at the University of Tasmania.

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Mary Rose C. Posa, Arvin C. Diesmos, Navjot S. Sodhi, Thomas M. Brooks, Hope for Threatened Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons from the Philippines, BioScience , Volume 58, Issue 3, March 2008, Pages 231–240, https://doi.org/10.1641/B580309

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The Philippines is a megabiodiversity country, but it is also often seen as a country of ecological ruin whose biodiversity is on the verge of collapse. Decades of environmental neglect have pushed ecosystems to their limit, often with deadly repercussions for the human population. Is conservation in the Philippines a lost cause? We review current conservation efforts in the Philippines, considering the actions of academics, field researchers, local communities, nongovernmental organizations, the government, and other sectors of society. Remarkably, however precarious the present situation may seem, there have been some recent positive gains and signs of hope. Although there is no room for complacency, we conclude that the diversity of available indicators suggests that conservation in the Philippines, against many odds, shows signs of success, and thus deserves greater attention and increased investment.

The loss and degradation of tropical ecosystems throughout the planet are threatening numerous species with extinction and thereby driving a biodiversity crisis with serious consequences for human well-being. In Southeast Asia, the threat is greatest where human populations are dense, impoverished, and rapidly increasing ( Sodhi et al. 2004 ). The Philippines exemplifies this critical situation. It is one of the most biologically rich regions in the world, with exceptionally high levels of endemism for a country of its size. Nearly half of its approximately 1100 terrestrial vertebrates are unique to the islands, and estimates of endemism for vascular plants range from 45% to 60% ( Heaney and Mittermeier 1997 ). The archipelago is also a center of nearshore animal diversity, most notably of corals, reef fish, marine snails, and lobsters ( Roberts et al. 2002 , Carpenter and Springer 2005 ). However, widespread environmental destruction has made this unique and megadiverse biota one of the most endangered in the world. The country is repeatedly cited as a global conservation priority—a top hotspot for both terrestrial and marine ecosystems—and there are fears that it could be the site of the first major extinction spasm ( Heaney and Mittermeier 1997 , Myers et al. 2000 , Roberts et al. 2002 ).

Exploitation of many vital habitats has brought the Philippines to the brink of ecological ruin. The archipelago was once almost completely covered by forest, but the harvesting of timber and agricultural expansion during the Spanish colonization, followed by rapid and extensive commercial logging in the 20th century ( Kummer 1992 , Bankoff 2007 ), reduced forest cover to less than a quarter of the land area ( figure 1 ). Although primary forest cover has been reported at a mere 3% of the land area ( FAO 2005 ), this figure is most likely an underestimate because pristine montane forests may cover an additional 3% to 5% ( Alcala 1998 ). Rates of annual forest loss continue to be high, at approximately 1.9% ( WRI 2003 ). Between 1918 and 1994, land covered with mangroves declined from half a million hectares (ha) to about 12,000 ha as a result of clearing and conversion to fishponds ( Primavera 2000 ). The archipelago's extensive coral reefs are threatened by harmful fishing practices (e.g., use of dynamite and poison) and siltation, with only 5% retaining 75% to 100% of live coral cover ( Gomez et al. 1994 ). As a consequence, the country has a high number of species at risk of extinction. Of the 1007 Philippine vertebrate species assessed for the 2006 IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List, nearly 21% are classified as threatened, as are 215 of the 323 plants evaluated.

The advanced state of environmental degradation has had serious repercussions for the human population as well. The loss of soil fertility, pollution from large-scale mining operations, and reduced productivity of fisheries affect the livelihood of millions of rural inhabitants ( Pineda-Ofreneo 1993 ). Erosion from deforestation is blamed for frequent flooding and massive landslides, which claim many lives every year ( Vitug 1993 ).

Efforts to preserve biodiversity are hampered by socioeconomic and political problems. Entrenched corruption, weak governance, uneven distribution of wealth, and opposition by small but powerful interest groups make it difficult to change and implement sound environmental policies ( Vitug 1993 , Utting 2000 ). Remaining natural resources are continually under pressure from an increasing human population (78.6 million in 2002, and growing at a rate of 2.3% per year; WRI 2003 ), and national funds are constrained by external debt servicing and rarely diverted into conservation efforts ( Pineda-Ofreneo 1993 ).

Against this backdrop, it is unsurprising that some researchers, notably Terborgh (1999) , have suggested a “triage” strategy that writes off the possibility of conservation of biodiversity in the Philippines. Over the last two decades, however, mounting evidence has indicated that there is still hope for such conservation in the country. Here we review some of the evidence for this revisionary perspective and assess the implications for conservation elsewhere in the already severely degraded, but still mega-diverse, tropics.

Conservation in the Philippines is inextricably linked to social and political issues. The country was long under colonial rule, and its natural resources were traditionally controlled by the elite and powerful, whose unsustainable and inequitable exploitation devastated the environment and marginalized the poor ( Broad and Cavanagh 1993 , Pineda-Ofreneo 1993 ). People in the countryside who depended on these resources, but gained little or no economic benefit from their commercial extraction, were the first to suffer from the impacts of environmental plunder. By the 1970s, members of some communities started to actively oppose developments that threatened local ecosystems, blocking logging trucks and protesting the construction of large dams ( Broad and Cavanagh 1993 ).

After the 1986 overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos, the revived democracy saw government agencies previously identified with corrupt practices adopt fundamental reforms. The change in political climate fostered the emergence of diverse civil society groups (e.g., nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] and people's organizations) concerned with environmental management and sustainable development. The government became more open to an agenda that emphasizes the participation of these groups. Today, the involvement of civil society in the planning, development, and implementation of environmental policies and programs has become a salient feature of conservation in the Philippines ( Utting 2000 ). Through lobbying, civil society groups can influence government agencies to adhere to their agenda for conservation and to pursue continuity in policy ( Broad and Cavanagh 1993 ).

At least on paper, considerable progress in environmental protection legislation has been made, driven in part by public advocacy. Of particular significance to biodiversity conservation are the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992, the establishment of protected areas, and the 2002 Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. At the international level, the Philippines is among the signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity and other agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. A National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and a National Wetland Action Plan were formulated to satisfy part of the country's obligations under these agreements. Representatives from various sectors came together to produce these comprehensive conservation action plans, which were subsequently endorsed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the president. Of course, enactment and ratification of such laws and conventions will not by themselves ensure the conservation of Philippine biota; failure to properly design, implement, and enforce policies could render them impotent. They are, however, evidence of the growing appreciation of the value of biodiversity in the country, and they prove that sustainable development and environmental protection have become integrated into political consciousness.

Another shift in environmental governance was seen in the devolution of authority over terrestrial and marine resources from the central government, which has limited resources and reach to tackle a multitude of concerns nationwide, to local governments. Through the Local Government Code of 1991, local governments began to share the responsibilities of maintaining ecological balance and enforcing regulations within their territorial jurisdictions. This change improves the chances that actions will be effective on the ground, because management options are given to those familiar with local environmental contexts and issues. Of course, devolution carries its own risks, such as possible abuses of power ( Utting 2000 ). On the other hand, organized communities can directly benefit from controlling their own resources, and strong support from local governments can be instrumental to the success of conservation programs.

The Philippine environmental movement gets much of its momentum from committed people who belong to civil society groups. In most cases, these groups are small nonprofit organizations that tackle the multifarious facets of biodiversity conservation. Social issues, such as land tenure and poverty alleviation through alternative livelihood, are often addressed concurrently with the actual protection of biodiversity. Laudably, a number of efforts by local communities and NGOs have made direct impacts on conserving species and habitats.

One program that has achieved remarkable success to date involves work with the endemic Philippine cockatoo Cacatua haematuropygia . Considered a critically endangered species, it was historically known from 45 islands, but is now extirpated or rare throughout much of its range as a result of habitat loss and poaching for the pet trade ( Collar et al. 1999 ). An integrated conservation program that was initiated in the early 1990s, led by government agencies and academic institutions, resulted in the formation of the Katala Foundation, an NGO that implements the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Program. Key strategies of the program include awareness and education campaigns, nest protection, monitoring, captive breeding, and ecological research. The program recruited former poachers and trained them to be wardens, and the export of birds was restricted, which led to a decline in the illegal trade in wild birds ( Boussekey 2000 , Widmann et al. 2006 ). The local government endorsed the creation of the Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary in 1997 to protect and manage a resident cockatoo population. Since then, there have been clear signs of recovery ( figure 2 ). Similar schemes are being implemented in additional areas, and there are indications of recovering populations on Palawan and Polillo Islands (Indira Lacerna-Widmann, Katala Foundation, Palawan, Philippines, personal communication, 21 November 2007).

The Philippine Endemic Species Conservation Project (PESCP) is undertaking a similar initiative to protect the critically endangered Visayan wrinkled hornbill Aceros waldeni on the island of Panay. A decade ago, the estimated population of this species was 60 to 80 breeding pairs across its range ( Collar et al. 1999 ). Since starting a nest-protection program with 32 nests in 2002, the PESCP has monitored and protected an increasing number of nest holes, reporting 502 successfully fledged broods in 2006 ( Curio 2007 ). Aside from its work with the hornbill as a flagship species for conservation on Panay, the PESCP lobbies to have essential forest habitats declared as protected areas, supports enforcement actions to reduce illegal logging, and studies the island's other endemic and endangered wildlife.

Another emerging success story is the in situ conservation of the critically endangered Philippine crocodile Crocodylus mindorensis . Past efforts had focused on captive breeding, but the discovery of a small wild population in the municipality of San Mariano at the foot of Luzon's Sierra Madre range led to a conservation program that prompted the local government to establish a sanctuary and ban the killing of crocodiles, with positive results ( figure 3 ; van der Ploeg and van Weerd 2004 ). Education and information campaigns were designed to change negative perceptions of crocodiles and engage the community in their protection. The Mabuwaya Foundation runs the Crocodile Rehabilitation, Observance, and Conservation Project, with the goals of scaling up efforts and expanding the work to include other areas in the Sierra Madre with known crocodile populations ( van der Ploeg and van Weerd 2006 ).

One of world's most threatened birds, the critically endangered Philippine eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi , has long been a flagship species for Philippine conservation. Since initiatives to protect the eagle began in the 1980s, critical information on the species' biology and ecology has been gathered ( Miranda et al. 2000 , Salvador and Ibanez 2006 ). Recent re-analyses of population estimates using new data suggest that the species may have a larger population, and confirmed records from new localities indicate a much wider distribution ( Collar et al. 1999 ). Populations remain highly fragmented, however, and are severely threatened by continuing habitat loss and poaching ( Bueser et al. 2003 ). Actions by the Philippine Eagle Foundation, including conservation breeding, education, field research, and community-based initiatives ( Salvador and Ibanez 2006 ), have had moderate success. An alliance of major local and international conservation organizations and government agencies was formed to pool resources and coordinate groups working to conserve the Philippine eagle. The recent expansion of the Peñablanca Reserve, which links several protected areas in the Sierra Madre range, is good news—the eagle's survival in situ will be secure only if forests are protected.

Such success stories are encouraging, and without the efforts of concerned groups, these species' prospects for survival would certainly have deteriorated rather than improved, but these species remain endangered. Elsewhere in the country, a number of other NGOs are playing crucial roles by providing services to, or acting on behalf of, different sectors of society involved in conservation. By forging links among the government, funding agencies, and local communities, and serving as project implementers, facilitators, trainers, and researchers, the NGOs can be catalysts for effective action. Their work is often local in scale but nonetheless important, providing enormous potential for replication in conserving other highly threatened species.

Although parks had been established in the Philippines under the 1932 National Parks Law, a restructuring of the country's existing protected areas came with the enactment of the NIPAS Act in 1992. The act designates protected areas to secure the perpetual existence of all native plants and animals in a comprehensive and integrated system. Among its aims are the assessment of the biodiversity value of existing parks and the establishment of new marine and terrestrial protected areas of biological significance. It incorporates scientific, cultural, and socioeconomic dimensions in its framework, and it exemplifies a participatory process by guaranteeing stakeholder representation in site-specific Protected Area Management Boards (PAMBs). More than 300 parks of various categories are now included or are being evaluated for inclusion in the protected-areas system ( DENR-PAWB 2003 ). Of these, 160 (roughly 8% of the Philippine land area) fall under IUCN categories I–V for terrestrial protected areas ( WDPA 2007 ).

Although the NIPAS Act and its policy framework are necessary and progressive measures for conserving natural areas for their biodiversity, their actual implementation has been convoluted and problematic ( Custodio and Molinyawe 2001 ). Implementing government agencies are often strapped for funding, resources, and technical capability. Bureaucratic red tape and political maneuverings by interest groups create conflicts in the management of areas and prolong the process of conferring protected status. Above all, because sites are rarely free of inhabitants who are dependent on limited natural resources, the establishment of protected areas can cause controversy ( Urich et al. 2001 ). Consequently, effective management becomes more than a problem of simple environmental education or “fences and fines” enforcement ( Custodio and Molinyawe 2001 , White et al. 2002 ). Collaborative approaches to protected-area management through the PAMB or other partnerships involving resource users, although complex and time-consuming, seem to provide the best resolution to these conflicts.

Perhaps the best examples of the integration of human resource use and conservation are the community-based marine protected areas (MPAs) managed by coastal communities across the Philippines. Pioneered in the 1970s at Sumilon and Apo islands, reserves are designed with sections of reef designated as “no-take” zones, and local fishers become responsible for enforcing restrictions ( Russ and Alcala 1999 ). No-take marine reserves both protect near-shore habitats and enable local residents to use resources in a sustainable manner ( Russ and Alcala 1999 ); the reserves also have been shown to increase fish biomass ( figure 4 ). This template has been highly accepted by fishing communities, with local governments implementing ordinances under the Local Government Code, Fisheries Code, or the NIPAS Act. Such strong stakeholder involvement is an essential element of their success ( White et al. 2002 ), and more than 600 MPAs have been established. A survey of 156 MPAs reported that 44.2% had good to excellent management ( Alcala and Russ 2006 ). Ultimately, however, small and scattered MPAs, even if they are successful, cannot protect biodiversity and sustain fisheries nationally in the Philippines. Recognizing these limitations, there have been calls for larger programs to build upon the success of MPAs by integrating them into larger, more holistic coastal management programs ( White et al. 2002 , 2005 ).

Understanding site-specific circumstances and adjusting to them can be key to an effective management plan, even for larger protected areas. An example of a tailored approach is the management of the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, a reef complex in the Sulu Sea and a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site. The unique characteristics of the park—its remote marine location, lack of inhabitants, tourism potential, and a stakeholder community composed of local and international fishing groups—require a high-level, dedicated collaboration among the governmental, nongovernmental, and private sectors. Activities of tourists and scuba divers, monitored to prevent damage, generate revenue to support the administration of the park. Management and protection measures, such as a ban on destructive fishing practices, have greatly improved living coral substrate cover ( White et al. 2002 ) and restored the park's value as one of the last secure breeding and roosting areas for rare seabirds (Arne Erik Jensen, Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines, personal communication, 22 January 2008).

In Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park (MKRNP), the first area protected by law after the NIPAS Act, significant progress has been made to assemble elements of an effective social contract to protect biodiversity. The MKRNP, the ancestral domain of indigenous tribes, is part of a major watershed spanning several municipalities in the province of Bukidnon. It was critical to harmonize the interests of the DENR, local government units, NGOs, and indigenous peoples by involving them in the decision-making process regarding the park's management. The PAMB assisted tribes in establishing a Council of Elders to serve as advisers and representatives on the board ( Saway and Mirasol 2004 ). There was a revival of traditional guards (Kitanglad Guard Volunteers), who, in addition to enforcing tribal justice systems, are instrumental in enforcing policies against prohibited acts in the park; moreover, they are front-runners in suppressing forest fires ( Sumbalan 2001 , Saway and Mirasol 2004 ). NGOs in the MKRNP promote sustainable livelihood systems (including tree planting in the buffer zones), which have led to a dramatic decline in violations committed inside the park ( Catacutan et al. 2000 ). Such moves for community development enhance the awareness and foster the participation of people in surrounding areas beyond the park jurisdiction, helping to alleviate encroachment. The management experience in the MKRNP demonstrates that sensitivity, recognition of cultural tradition and local knowledge, strong enforcement, and flexibility to negotiate with various stakeholders can sustain many local initiatives ( Sumbalan 2001 ).

The concept that communities themselves are often in the best position to manage and protect their resources is also the backbone of the government's social forestry initiatives. The community-based forest management program was adopted in 1995 as a strategy to achieve ecological stability and social equity. In this scheme, local communities are entrusted with the responsibility for forest rehabilitation, protection, and conservation. Tree planting can have various management goals, such as biodiversity protection, forest regeneration, and agroforestry. The right to use forest resources and the right to tenure security are intended to be incentives to plant trees and defend forestland against illegal logging ( Lasco and Pulhin 2006 ).

Chokkalingam and colleagues (2006) reviewed forest rehabilitation in the Philippines and found that forest cover increased in 28 of 46 sites that had significantly reduced human pressures and continued maintenance and protection. Rehabilitation efforts, especially those in which mixed species are planted and undergrowth regeneration is allowed, appear to contribute to biodiversity enhancement and to increase faunal diversity ( Chokkalingam et al. 2006 , Lasco and Pulhin 2006 ). Forestry programs that are showing positive outcomes include sites at Alcoy in Cebu, the Makiling Forest Reserve in Laguna, an initiative of the local government unit in Nueva Vizcaya, and the Landcare movement on Mindanao ( Chokkalingam et al. 2006 , Lasco and Pulhin 2006 ). Forest area under plantation was reported to increase by 5% between 1990 and 2000 ( WRI 2003 ). However, although considerable funding and effort have been expended, much uncertainty remains regarding the long-term survival and growth of plantations. In addition, their effectiveness for biodiversity conservation and their impacts on soil and water properties need to be evaluated.

The environmental movement in civil society has been paralleled in academia by renewed interest in biodiversity research. Studies in areas such as biogeography, systematics, and phylogenetics have greatly broadened understanding of processes that affect diversity in the archipelago. A search of three ISI Web of Knowledge databases (Biosis Previews, Web of Science, and Zoological Records) for the period 1985 to 2006 reveals an increasing number of publications pertaining to biodiversity and conservation ( figure 5 ). Labors of frontline field researchers contribute considerably to knowledge of Philippine biota. Nearly a hundred new species of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians are currently being described; these descriptions are expected to increase tetrapod diversity and endemism by 8% and 50%, respectively (Lawrence R. Heaney, Field Museum, Chicago, personal communication, 21 October 2007; Rafe M. Brown, University of Kansas, Lawrence, personal communication, 7 October 2007; Angelo C. Alcala, Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Philippines, personal communication, 15 October 2007); even species as conspicuous as Rafflesia are still being discovered ( Barcelona et al. 2006 ).

Along with the continuing discovery and descriptions of new species, there have also been exciting rediscoveries of species feared to have become extinct. As early as the 1900s, ornithologists noted that the island of Cebu had lost most of its original forest cover ( Bankoff 2007 ). In 1959, a paper by Rabor reported the disappearance of the Cebu flowerpecker ( Dicaeum quadricolor ) and eight other avian subspecies endemic to the island. As the Cebu flowerpecker had not been recorded since 1906, it was considered extinct until its rediscovery in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest at Tabunan ( Dutson et al. 1993 ). Although clearance has reduced the size of Tabunan forest over the last 15 years, subsequent surveys have revealed the species' presence in other patches of forest, and conservation efforts on the island, such as those being undertaken by the Cebu Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, have been revived. Field surveys also unexpectedly uncovered populations of the Philippine bare-backed fruit bat ( Dobsonia chapmani ), a cave-dwelling species not recorded since 1964 despite intensive searches. In 2001, three of these bats were netted in an agricultural clearing at Carmen on Cebu ( Paguntalan et al. 2004 ), and two years later, another five were found at Sipalay, on nearby Negros Island, in degraded karst habitat ( Alcala et al. 2004 ). The Philippine parachute gecko Ptychozoon intermedium , described from a single specimen collected in 1912 that was destroyed during World War II, was found again in 1993 ( Brown et al. 1997 ). Similarly, the Philippine forest turtle Siebenrockiella leytensis had been considered extinct from the island of Leyte for more than 80 years, until natural populations were found on Palawan ( Diesmos et al. 2005 ).

A valuable lesson can be drawn from these rediscoveries: the uncritical acceptance of a species' extinction may lead researchers to give up on the species prematurely, and thus the assumption of its demise may become self-fulfilling ( Collar 1998 ). The rediscoveries also underscore the value of basic bio-diversity surveys. However, the state of deforestation in the Philippines means that these species, with their typically small populations, are far from out of danger of extinction and require urgent conservation action to ensure their survival. In addition, there are many other “lost” and poorly known species, and fieldwork is necessary to ascertain their status ( WCSP 1997 ).

As the amount and quality of biodiversity information increases, some evidence has emerged that certain endemic species are less extinction-prone than feared. For instance, some mammals are more abundant and widespread than previously thought (e.g., the Mindanao gymnure Podogymnura truei ), and other mammals maintain good populations even in disturbed habitats, (e.g., the Philippine tarsier Tarsius syrichta and the Philippine flying lemur Cynocephalus volans ) ( WCSP 1997 ). Robust data for birds, however, show no consistent pattern in connection with the growth of knowledge about conservation status ( figure 6 ). The first conservation status assessment of the world's birds listed 43 Philippine species as threatened ( Collar and Andrew 1988 ). The second listed 86 ( Collar et al. 1994 ), of which 26 were downlisted from threatened status by the third ( BirdLife International 2000 ). Most of these changes involved new information; only two relate to genuine negative changes in status ( Butchart et al. 2004 )—increasing threat to the blue-winged racquet-tail Prioniturus verticalis in the early 1990s and to the Philippine duck Anas luzonica in the late 1990s. Since then, knowledge of the conservation status of Philippine birds appears to have stabilized, with 69 species considered threatened in the most recent assessment ( BirdLife International 2006 , IUCN 2006 ).

Cooperative interactions between sectors involved in Philippine biodiversity conservation are on the rise. Echoing the participatory legislative framework, programs often seek to address various facets of conservation, and sharing of knowledge is now moving to the synthetic level. Researchers have drawn attention to previously overlooked biodiversity-rich areas for designation as protected areas, and their knowledge of faunistic and floristic distribution has been critical in pinpointing a comprehensive set of key biodiversity areas as priority targets for inclusion in the NIPAS ( Mallari et al. 2001 , CI-Philippines et al. 2006 ). Organizations such as the World Agroforestry Centre are assessing the policy support, potentials, and constraints in current management arrangements to develop better environmental service payment schemes benefiting rural people with ecologically sound practices ( Boquiren 2004 ).

One of the most important positive signs is the increasing number of professional scientists, conservationists, and volunteer groups that are actively promoting conservation education, research, and advocacy work. The Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines is a professional organization formed in 1992 to advance wildlife research and conservation in the country. Today, it has a diverse membership from academia, government, NGOs, and people's organizations ( WCSP 1997 ). Participation in its yearly biodiversity symposium, which provides a unique forum for interaction across sectors, has grown steadily in attendance and membership ( figure 7 ). The Philippine Association of Marine Science also holds a well-attended symposium on marine biology. Another pioneer organization is the Haribon Foundation ( www.haribon.org.ph ), which started out as a bird-watching club in 1972 and is now one of the largest conservation NGOs in the country. More recently formed, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines ( www.birdwatch.ph ) is the country's first group to regularly conduct bird-watching activities in important bird areas, bringing thousands of urbanites in direct contact with avian biodiversity in native habitats.

Other sectors are also putting the environment on their agendas. Working for environmental media advocacy, Bantay Kalikasan is the environmental arm of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation's sociocivic foundation. In addition to creating environmental themed series and broadcasting public service messages, Bantay Kalikasan has undertaken the rehabilitation of the La Mesa watershed, which supplies potable water to millions of residents in Metro Manila, the nation's capital. Similarly, the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education ( www.ceae.org ) is producing Filipino nature documentaries and training educators. Large companies, such as the Ayala Corporation, have created foundations for corporate social responsibility that support conservation efforts as well. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has published a sourcebook to encourage environmental reporting, recognizing that this is no longer a “soft” issue for the press ( Severino 1998 ). With the private sector and media beginning to take environmental concerns more seriously, we can expect that more Filipinos will embrace biodiversity conservation.

Throughout this article, we have highlighted cases of positive progress attained through efforts to conserve the threatened biodiversity of the Philippines. Immense challenges and obstacles remain, however, and we discuss some of them in this section.

Political will is needed from the central government to enforce environmental laws. There is a need to harmonize and clarify policies and resolve inconsistencies or contradictions that create conflicts, such as overlapping responsibilities and a lack of coherency between environmental and economic strategies ( Chokkalingam et al. 2006 ). Bureaucratic malpractice and pressure from politically influential commercial interests continue to undermine legislation ( Utting 2000 ). Major threats to the environment, such as pollution and climate change, must be addressed at the national level, and so must poverty and overpopulation, which are the ultimate drivers of environmental exploitation.

Globalization has stimulated a large Philippine diaspora in recent decades, with roughly 9% to 10% of the national population now living or working outside of the country ( Hugo 2007 ). International migration can result in a decline in rural populations and a reduction of local pressure on natural resources, as remittances from emigrants may provide non -agricultural income and reduce reliance on subsistence farming ( Carr et al. 2005 ). However, the dynamics of emigration and environment in the Philippines have not been evaluated, and the potential of remittances to be harnessed for community development has not been realized ( Hugo 2007 ).

Effectiveness of community-based conservation depends to a large degree on adequacy of knowledge and capabilities of the communities ( Utting 2000 ). Community organization and social preparation are essential for gaining support from the stakeholders and cultivating responsibility for resources ( Utting 2000 , Boquiren 2004 , Alcala and Russ 2006 ). Stakeholders must be further empowered to plan, implement, enforce, and monitor their own programs ( Sodhi et al. 2008 ). To be truly sustainable, community-based approaches must provide tangible benefits and be financially stable. Market support for sustainable-use practices and the products of social forestry is necessary, if these are to become viable, income-generating alternatives to direct exploitation ( Chokkalingam et al. 2006 ).

Social forestry and rehabilitation can reduce pressures on remaining forests, but the establishment of well-managed nature reserves where biodiversity is high remains imperative. There is still a long way to go before the goals of the NIPAS Act are fully realized. Many parks are legally designated on paper, but resources allocated by the central government are insufficient to maintain them. The process of declaring protected areas remains cumbersome and protracted, and should be expedited for identified priority sites ( Mallari et al. 2001 , CI-Philippines et al. 2006 ). Other available instruments, such as designation of critical habitats as provided for by the Wildlife Act, should be harnessed. Full enforcement of even the most basic policies is lacking; for instance, illegal logging still takes place in national parks, often with the collusion of local officials ( Vitug 1993 ). Finally, connecting smaller, community-managed protected areas into networks, such as incorporating MPAs into integrated coastal management programs, may enhance their overall value for biodiversity protection.

Scientific knowledge of Philippine biota has taken great steps forward in recent years; however, much remains to be learned. Basic biological information for many species is poor, and many areas still need to be surveyed. Moreover, the apparent ecological flexibility of some species, including rare endemics, indicates that attention should also be directed to degraded habitats. Scientists must become more involved in projects to better inform management plans and evaluate outcomes. Fostering collaborations with international organizations and developing strong links among institutions of learning would enrich the capability of local scientists and conservation workers to conduct biodiversity research. There is much untapped data in “gray literature” ( Lacanilao 1997 ), and available information is poorly distributed to the wider community. In this regard, one resource that is underutilized is the Internet, which can serve as a powerful tool for data sharing.

Funding continues to be a limiting factor in conservation efforts at all scales, inhibiting the ability to sustain small but effective conservation projects and maintain the value of many larger protected areas. Continued support from the global conservation community can have an enormous impact, especially for local initiatives whose costs are relatively low. Investments must be made over the long term because short timescales and “contractual culture” often produce ineffective and unsustainable results ( Utting 2000 ). Alternative revenue-generating mechanisms must be actively explored and developed—for instance, prospects are good for scaling up payment schemes and markets for environmental services to finance the management of important biodiversity areas across the country ( Boquiren 2004 ). Greater participation from the private sector should be fostered, not just through donations but also through genuine corporate social responsibility.

It could be said that the Philippine environmental movement was born out of necessity. Greater environmental advocacy and changes in policy have coincided with the near destruction of essential habitats and ecosystems. Progress has been generally slow over the past three decades of active conservation efforts in the Philippines, and as measured by many quantitative indicators, such as a reduction in the number of threatened species or an increase in forest area, still fares poorly. However, significant developments have been made in other, less quantifiable areas, such as capacity building. Moreover, despite flaws and challenges, much knowledge has been gained, and mechanisms for resource management and biodiversity protection are now in place. Committed conservation groups can be found throughout the country, striving to salvage the hotspot from its precarious environmental position.

As the Philippines had done, other countries in Southeast Asia are pursuing economic progress at the expense of bio-diversity ( Sodhi et al. 2004 ). With a biodiversity crisis looming throughout the region, it is crucial to evaluate which strategies are effective in conserving species and habitats. In the Philippines, greater involvement, organization, and networking of the stakeholders from many sectors have resulted in encouraging trends for conservation. Ensuring the future of tropical ecosystems hinges on finding the balance between diverse and often conflicting interests; different contexts will require different solutions. Nevertheless, that positive progress has been made—despite immense obstacles—in a country seen as a worst-case scenario suggests that grounds for optimism remain for biodiversity conservation both in the Philippines and in tropical countries worldwide.

The authors are greatly indebted to Danilo Balete, David Bickford, Rowena Boquiren, Rafe Brown, Nigel Collar, Jayson Ibañez, Philip Godfrey Jakosalem, Arne Jensen, Indira Lacerna-Widmann, Rodel Lasco, Aldrin Mallari, William Oliver, Perry Ong, Lisa Marie Paguntalan, Anabelle Plantilla, Jurgenne Primavera, Jan van der Ploeg, Merlijn van Weerd, and Peter Widmann, who provided materials and suggestions that greatly improved this article. We also thank Lawrence Heaney and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the National University of Singapore (RP-154-000-264-112).

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Map of the Philippine archipelago showing approximate percentages and distribution of forest cover (including degraded forest) remaining on the major islands. Locations mentioned in the text are indicated in the legend. Source: Modified from Stibig and colleagues (2004) .

Numbers of the Philippine cockatoo Cacatua haematuropygia counted at the roosting site on Rasa Island, Narra, Palawan. Source: Modified from Widmann and colleagues (2006) .

Reported crocodile killings in the municipality of San Mariano. Source: van der Ploeg and van Weerd (2004) .

Mean number (left column for each year) and mean biomass (right columns, in kilograms) of large predatory reef fish per 1000 square meters in the Sumilon and Apo Reserves from 1983 to 1993. Number estimated by visual census. Sumilon Reserve had been protected from fishing for almost 10 years in 1983; protection in Apo Reserve began in 1982. Solid arrows indicate when fishing in Sumilon began (1984 (1992), and the open arrows indicate when fishing in the reserves ceased (1983 (1987). Source: Modified from Russ and Alcala (1999) .

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Stability of Philippine bird species considered threatened in four global conservation assessments for the IUCN Red List ( Collar and Andrew 1988 , Collar et al. 1994 , BirdLife International 2000 , BirdLife International 2006 ). Bars indicate numbers of species considered threatened in a given assessment, with shading showing if they are also considered threatened in the preceding and following assessments (solid gray), no longer considered threatened in the subsequent assessment (black), newly considered threatened since the previous assessment (white), or considered threatened in neither the preceding nor the subsequent assessment (vertical stripes).

Attendance at the annual symposium on biodiversity by the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines.

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Photo Essay: The biodiversity of Palawan, Philippines

Community, Conservation and Natural Climate Solutions: Mantalingahan Landscape Conservation Project

Made possible with support from P&G

Conservation International is proud to share an intimate portrait of the elusive and rare wildlife of the Philippines, thriving in their natural habitats. The Philippines is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth and home to a variety of species found nowhere else on the planet. The photos included below offer a glimpse at the 120,457-hectare Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape — a vital habitat located on the Philippine island of Palawan that is home to more than 1,000 plant and animal species. The landscape also provides for more than 12,000 Indigenous people, many of whom rely directly on nature for their livelihoods and are among the world’s most climate-vulnerable communities.

Despite its protected status, the Mantalingahan Landscape continues to be threatened by deforestation and forest degradation, and 10 percent of its species are considered threatened, including the Palawan pangolin and the Philippine cockatoo. In 2020, Conservation International and Procter & Gamble (P&G) launched the Mantalingahan Landscape Conservation Project , a five-year project to restore and protect the landscape. We are working to ensure that this ecosystem can support local communities while contributing to the reduction of global emissions through forest and mangrove conservation. This project was the first to be developed as part of the Natural Climate Solutions Initiative in support of P&G's nature and climate targets.

The photographs highlighted below were captured by local photographer and filmmaker Jessie M. Cereno, as well as by members of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and Conservation International staff. The photos appeared at the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal, Canada, where nearly 200 countries discussed the implementation of new global biodiversity goals for the next decade.

Captions by Trond Larsen , Senior Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science at Conservation International.

From rugged coast to mountain peaks, Palawan boasts a tremendous variety of marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. The island not only harbors unique and endemic species, but also provides essential goods and services to people.

Mangroves grow along coasts and estuaries in the Mantalingahan Landscape, the largest terrestrial protected area in the Philippines. Palawan has the most mangrove cover in the Philippines, spanning approximately 60,000 hectares. These mangroves protect coastal communities by buffering against storm surges, serve as nurseries for fish and other marine species, support local food security, and absorb and store enormous amounts of climate-warming carbon.

“What really stands out about the Mantalingahan Landscape is the tremendous variety of ecosystems and species that are concentrated in this relatively small area, with habitats ranging from steaming coastal mangroves to cool montane forest around the peak of Mount Mantalingahan. While Indigenous people have long revered and depended upon this biodiversity, scientists are only beginning to understand the incredibly unique wildlife that is found here.”

Trond Larsen, Senior Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science, Conservation International

The Palawan pangolin ( Manis culionensis ), known locally as balintong, is a reclusive and gentle animal found only in Palawan. They spend much of their time in the treetops and use a long, sticky tongue to feed on termites and ants. Like other pangolin species, they are illegally hunted for their scales, organs and skin, which are used in traditional medicine in some parts of the world. The species is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, and its continued survival depends on reducing illegal poaching and protecting forests such as those in the Mantalingahan Landscape.

The Palawan Forest Turtle  ( Siebenrockiella leytensis ) is another Critically Endangered species found only in Palawan. Though this mysterious and elusive species lives in streams, rivers and swamps, it lays its eggs on the forest floor, where it covers them with leaves. Palawan forest turtles are highly sensitive to disturbance and require intact forest to survive. For much of the twentieth century, the species was not seen in the wild, until they were officially rediscovered in 2004. Unfortunately, since then the population has declined, primarily due to the pet trade.

The Philippine cockatoo ( Cacatua haematuropygia ), also Critically Endangered, prefers lowland forests with adjacent mangroves. Threatened by habitat loss and wildlife trade, only an estimated 430-750 individuals are believed to remain in the wild. The Mantalingahan Landscape supports healthy mangroves that are essential for this large parrot, as well as many other species, making it one of the most important bird habitats in the Philippines.

The stork-billed kingfisher ( Pelargopsis capensis ) is named for its unusually large and brightly colored beak, which it uses to catch fish, frogs, rodents, young birds and crabs, such as the one pictured here. These large kingfishers thrive in forested areas along rivers and other wetlands.

The Asian emerald dove ( Chalcophaps indica ) is a brightly colored pigeon species that inhabits mangroves and tropical forests in the Mantalingahan Landscape. Like some other pigeons, they tend to be relatively unafraid of people. We are only beginning to understand Palawan’s incredible avian diversity – in 2007, Conservation International and partners discovered a species of finch ( Erythrura prasina ) that is new to science.

The Philippine long-tailed macaque ( Macaca fascicularis philippensis ) is a subspecies of the long-tailed or crab-eating macaque that is most commonly found in mangrove and swamp forests, such as in the Mantalingahan Landscape. Like most other primates, they are omnivores, eating a variety of fruits and animals, including crabs. Each group sleeps huddled together at night for warmth in a preferred tree, usually along a river. While they adapt well to the presence of humans, the species is considered Endangered by the IUCN Red List due to a variety of threats that include habitat loss, hunting and wildlife trade.

The Palawan porcupine  ( Hystrix pumila ) is another species found only in the Palawan region. While they are relatively tolerant of habitat disturbance, the species is declining, especially due to hunting and wildlife trade, and is considered Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. In most places worldwide, it is rare for scientists to find mammals that haven’t been previously described. The Palawan region is a notable exception to this rule. Here, Conservation International and partners have discovered several species that are new to science, including a species of pouch bat ( Saccolaimus saccolaimus ) and a species of shrew which may be endemic to Mount Mantalingahan. In addition, we rediscovered the Palawan soft-furred mountain rat ( Palawanomys furvus ), a species that had not been seen by scientists since it was first recorded in 1962.

Abundant streams, wetlands and rainforests in the Mantalingahan Landscape provide habitat for a stunning diversity of amphibians and reptiles. This includes the Palawan horned frog ( Megophrys ligayae ), whose striking appearance provides excellent camouflage in the leaf litter of the primary forests where it lives. Its tadpoles mature in small forest pools adjacent to streams and are sensitive to changes in water quality. This species is considered Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List due to its restricted distribution and declining population. Ongoing research and conservation efforts are providing fresh insights into Palawan’s diverse herpetofauna – in 2007, Conservation International and partners discovered a new species of forest gecko ( Luperosaurus gulat ).

Palawan’s rich ecosystems and unique species diversity are also essential for the people that live there. The Mantalingahan Landscape hosts important ancestral domains that are home to over 12,000 Indigenous peoples called Palaw’an. The Palaw’an, along with the Tagbanua, Molbog and the Batak Indigenous communities, are known to be some of the island’s oldest inhabitants, and their traditional ways of life are closely tied to nature. This picture shows the cone of an almaciga tree ( Agathis philippinensis ). The tree’s resin provides a high-value product for the Palaw’an culture and is traded for industrial uses. Many other plant, animal and fungus species provide food, medicine, building materials and other uses to local communities. The sustainable management of Palawan’s ecosystems will help to ensure the continued preservation of its unique biodiversity as well as the countless benefits they provide to people.

View of the Aribungos-Ipilan portion of the Mantalingahan landscape threatened by numerous mining permit applications.

Learn more about the Mantalingahan Landscape Conservation Project

The Philippine Seas: Biodiversity and Ecological Impacts of Natural and Anthropogenic stressors in Tropical Reef Systems

Cover image for research topic "The Philippine Seas: Biodiversity and Ecological Impacts of Natural and Anthropogenic stressors in Tropical Reef Systems"

Original Research 11 November 2022 Sea surface carbonate dynamics at reefs of Bolinao, Philippines: Seasonal variation and fish mariculture-induced forcing Raffi R. Isah ,  1 more  and  Maria Lourdes San Diego-McGlone 3,430 views 2 citations

Retraction 21 April 2022 Retraction: Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Expressed Gene Complement and Acute Thermal Stress Response of Acropora digitifera Endosymbionts Frontiers Editorial Office 782 views 0 citations

Original Research 24 February 2022 Restriction Site-Associated DNA Sequencing Reveals Local Adaptation Despite High Levels of Gene Flow in Sardinella lemuru (Bleeker, 1853) Along the Northern Coast of Mindanao, Philippines Kevin Labrador ,  3 more  and  Ma. Josefa Pante 2,489 views 2 citations

Loading... Original Research 17 February 2022 A Snapshot on the Distribution of Coastal Phytoplankton Communities in Five HAB-Affected Bays in Eastern Visayas, Philippines Stephanie Faith Ravelo ,  5 more  and  Marietta B. Albina 9,809 views 1 citations

Loading... Original Research 04 February 2022 Global Mass Spectrometric Analysis Reveals Chemical Diversity of Secondary Metabolites and 44-Methylgambierone Production in Philippine Gambierdiscus Strains Zabrina Bernice L. Malto ,  5 more  and  Lilibeth A. Salvador-Reyes 3,336 views 5 citations

Original Research 27 January 2022 Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Expressed Gene Complement and Acute Thermal Stress Response of Acropora digitifera Endosymbionts Stephanie Faith Ravelo ,  1 more  and  Cecilia Conaco 2,170 views 0 citations

Original Research 25 January 2022 Nearshore to Offshore Trends in Plankton Assemblage and Stable Isotopes in Reefs of the West Philippine Sea Aletta T. Yñiguez ,  3 more  and  Gil S. Jacinto 3,291 views 0 citations

Loading... Original Research 06 January 2022 Spatial and Short-Term Temporal Patterns of Octocoral Assemblages in the West Philippine Sea Jue Alef A. Lalas ,  7 more  and  Maria Vanessa Baria-Rodriguez 3,341 views 4 citations

Loading... Original Research 26 October 2021 Implications of Community-Based Management of Marine Reserves in the Philippines for Reef Fish Communities and Biodiversity Sara E. Marriott ,  4 more  and  Kim de Mutsert 9,610 views 3 citations

Loading... Original Research 20 October 2021 Zooxanthellae Diversity and Coral-Symbiont Associations in the Philippine Archipelago: Specificity and Adaptability Across Thermal Gradients Andrew F. Torres ,  1 more  and  Rachel Ravago-Gotanco 8,223 views 6 citations

Loading... Original Research 18 October 2021 First Evidence of Cryptic Species Diversity and Population Structuring of Selaroides leptolepis in the Tropical Western Pacific Lorenzo C. Halasan ,  1 more  and  Hsiu-Chin Lin 3,523 views 7 citations

Loading... Original Research 06 October 2021 Spatial Planning Insights for Philippine Coral Reef Conservation Using Larval Connectivity Networks Patrick R. Pata  and  Aletta T. Yñiguez 7,691 views 8 citations

Original Research 09 September 2021 Individual and Interactive Effects of Ocean Warming and Acidification on Adult Favites colemani Mikhael Clotilde S. Tañedo ,  3 more  and  Maria Lourdes San Diego-McGlone 4,932 views 0 citations

Loading... Original Research 18 August 2021 Through the Boundaries: Environmental Factors Affecting Reef Benthic Cover in Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines Fleurdeliz M. Panga ,  3 more  and  Porfirio M. Aliño 16,079 views 4 citations

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Living in a Shared World: 14th UN Biodiversity Conference and the Philippine Context

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

by Nicole V. Torres of Parabukas

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, or the CBD, was one of three environmental treaties adopted at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Along with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), it represented a global recognition of the magnitude of environmental destruction happening around the world, and a serious concerted commitment to pursuing sustainable development.

Biodiversity loss and the destruction of ecosystems have sometimes been viewed as less of a “hot topic” than the often volatile and highly political issues related to climate change.  However, these concerns are no less urgent and are equally serious. Dr. Cristiana Pasca Palmer, the Executive Secretary of the UN CBD, has flagged these as “silent killers,” because when their impacts become fully evident, it may already be too late to turn the tide.  

“The Philippines is one of the world’s seventeen identified Megadiverse nations. Taken together, these countries are home to more than 70 percent of all known plant and animal species. ”

Biodiversity Loss in the Philippines

The 2018 report of the Inter-governmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) describes the scale of these challenges. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, high rates of habitat fragmentation and degradation, especially in forests, have led to a decline in wild mammals and birds. For Southeast Asia in particular, this means that 29 percent of bird species and 24 percent of mammal species are likely to become extinct in the coming decades if the current rate of forest loss continues.

Coral reefs in South and Southeast Asia are also under serious threat, with up to 90 percent of coral expected to suffer severe degradation by 2050, even with the best conservation efforts.

These projections are especially critical for the Philippines, one of the world’s seventeen Megadiverse nations. Taken together, these countries are home to more than 70 percent of all known plant and animal species.

Many of these species are endemic to the Philippines and can be found nowhere else. As such, ensuring the survival of these biodiversity resources also entails protecting the landscapes and ecosystems that sustain them.

“Investing in Biodiversity for People and Planet”

Every two years, representatives from the 195 countries that have signed on to the CBD meet to decide on policy, procedure, and work programmes to support further implementation of the Convention, and the realization of its three objectives: 1) the conservation of biodiversity, 2) the sustainable use of its components, and 3) the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

This year’s meeting will take place from November 17th to 29th in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. The 14th Conference of Parties (COP) will highlight the theme “investing in biodiversity for people and planet.” Discussions on several agenda items are expected to provide insight and guidance on what this might mean for governments and other stakeholders.

Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Sectors

Mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity across various sectors is expected to be a central topic at this year’s Conference. In particular, discussions are expected to focus on the industries of energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing and processing, and health.

It is significant to note that the Philippine experience with these sectors has not always been a positive one. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2015-2028 in fact identifies these industries as drivers of habitat loss and degradation of ecosystems, because of the unsustainable practices of land conversion and air, water, and soil pollution very often associated with them.

Recognizing that these sectors are on the rise is thus critical – they are expected to expand further to provide for increasing populations and expanding urban areas. In her welcome message for the Conference, Executive Secretary Pasca Palmer points out that countries are expected to invest some USD 90 trillion in infrastructure and about USD 25 trillion in energy over the next 15 years.

This year’s COP will consider a range of measures that countries and these sectors may adopt, which may include encouraging best practices for environmental impact assessments, effective incentives to mainstream biodiversity, and updating of legal frameworks, policies and practices to ensure the exercise of Free, Prior and Informed Consent and participation of all relevant stakeholders. A long-term strategic approach to mainstream biodiversity is also proposed to establish priorities for action and facilitate consistent assessment and monitoring.

Biodiversity and Climate Change

Climate change has already accelerated the degradation of both terrestrial and marine environments, and is expected to drive the destruction of specialized habitats, and species loss and extinctions.

Despite these risks, biodiversity and ecosystems can also be part of solutions to address the adverse impacts of climate change. In its recent Special Report published in October 2018, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) proposes several pathways that can be pursued to hold the global temperature increase to 1.5oC. Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and protection and enhancement of ecosystem services are key components of many of these options.

Ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable land use and planning are among the measures that can be employed to increase the adaptive capacity of communities and natural systems. These actions can also provide mitigation benefits, as healthy ecosystems can better support the absorption of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

In Egypt, countries will consider guidance on Ecosystem-based Approaches for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. These practices utilize biodiversity and ecosystem services to manage climate and disaster impacts. Examples of these include forest restoration initiatives in upland areas that help improve water regulation and prevent erosion. In urban areas, establishing green spaces also helps regulate temperatures and reduce the risk of floods.

Synthetic Biology

New developments in science and technology have also introduced changes in ecosystems and landscapes. In many parts of the world, agricultural crops and livestock have been genetically engineered to resist various pests and survive extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Others have been created to improve nutritional properties or eliminate harmful pathogens, addressing health and food security needs.

However, concerns have been also raised as regards these organisms that are products of genetic engineering technology. Indigenous peoples and local communities have called for the exercise of Free Prior and Informed Consent before these organisms are released in natural environments, citing that they may impact traditional knowledge, practices, livelihoods, and use of land and water resources.

Policy must continue to respond to scientific developments. Recognizing that technology has a role to play in the modern world entails an understanding both of the potential benefits that it can bring and possible adverse effects that should be mitigated or prevented.

To enable this, countries meeting in Egypt will consider a process and mechanism for regular horizon scanning, monitoring, and assessment of new developments in the field of synthetic biology. Many uncertainties remain with regard to the impacts that organisms developed through genetic engineering technology could have on biodiversity. Discussions on this agenda item are thus likely to continue in succeeding COPs.

Living in Harmony with Nature

The United Nations has declared the years from 2011 to 2020 as the international decade for Biodiversity, looking toward the long-term vision of “living in harmony with nature.” Generally, by 2050, a world is imagined where “biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored, and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”  

These are very ambitious goals, and many doubt that they can be reached by holding more meetings and creating more committees. Participation in Conferences and international policy negotiations cannot and should not represent the maximum extent of our efforts. International policy is not meant provide the end-all and be-all solution, but it can be an important first step.

Living in harmony with nature, after all, begins with recognizing that human beings share this world with other lives. From this shared recognition, governments, industries, and communities are made to face how their decisions have shaped and continue to shape the natural world.

Discussions that take place at forums such as the upcoming COP have the power to trigger action in countries, sectors, communities, and individuals. In facing up to the “silent killers” of biodiversity loss and ecosystems destruction, breaking the silence is no small matter.

About the Author:

Nicole V. Torres is part of Parabukas, a young, boutique consulting firm that aims to enable and enhance understanding of complex legal language, concepts, and processes by decision-makers and stakeholders. In partnership with the Forest Foundation Philippines, Parabukas is currently engaged in efforts to build the capacity of government agencies and civil society organizations in the Philippines to engage in the UNFCCC and CBD negotiations and to mainstream international concerns and obligations into national frameworks.

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an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

7M hectares of Philippine land are forested — and that’s bad news

The country has been vulnerable to massive flooding linked to deforestation. The coronavirus pandemic is also a catastrophe that arose from populations occupying wild animal habitats.

Key findings:

Forest loss persists in the Philippines even with a log ban and protection laws in place.

  • Forest cover has remained the same since the first Aquino administration as losses in some parts of the country have eclipsed gains in others. 
  • The Mimaropa region – covering Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan – has seen the worst deforestation in recent years.
  • The Duterte government excluded reforestation efforts among its commitments to mitigate climate change under the 2016 Paris Agreement.
  • Bills that are meant to address legal gaps in protecting forests are languishing in Congress. 

Mindoro is the seventh largest island of the Philippines. It sits at the bottom of Luzon, where the country’s capital is located, and stretches toward the northern tip of Sulu Sea. Large ships pass through its unpredictable waters, and on its seabed lie the wreckage of vessels that didn’t survive it.  On land, a spine of mountains runs across its center. Its forests are home to the tamaraw , dwarf buffalos whose images once graced once-peso coins. They used to be widespread, but are now critically endangered.   Land conversion has wiped out most of the habitat of the tamaraws. The lush expanse of forests where they liked to wallow in mud pits undisturbed have been flattened to make way for human settlements.

The same fate has befallen a species of pigeons called Mindoro bleeding-heart , named so because their breasts resemble a puncture wound with a blotch of orange at the center that deepens to dark red.

The rate of deforestation, which in turn drives the endangerment of species on the island, has been alarming, said ecologist Neil Aldrin Mallari, who studies the Mindoro bleeding-heart as president of the Center for Conservation Innovations .

The birds are also found on the islands of Negros, Panay, and Mindanao but the lowland forests where they used to live — the temperature there is right and fruits are aplenty — have drastically thinned through the years.

Mallari said the few remaining pigeons try to adapt, retreating to high altitudes where there are still trees to offer refuge. Those trees are their last stand. 

Mindoro lost more than 200,000 hectares of forest cover from 2003 to 2015. That's about the size of land that 3,000 SM Mall of Asia complexes would cover if they stood side by side. The neighboring tourist haven of Palawan also lost nearly 30,000 hectares of forest land during the same period, based on government data. 

The losses of Mindoro and Palawan in terms of forest cover make Mimaropa the most deforested region in the Philippines, even if other islands in it such as Marinduque and Romblon had recorded some gains.

Mimaropa is also a microcosm of the state of forests in the country. Some provinces have successfully expanded their forest cover, but the gains were erased by consistent losses in others. 

A log ban and a number of laws have been in place for decades to restore the forests, but the absence of a coherent policy on forest management has resulted in various forms of land conversion that continue to drive deforestation at an alarming rate. 

The country’s forest cover is only about seven million hectares or 23% of the country’s total land area, based on official numbers, although experts are afraid that this number is overestimated. 

That’s a lot of forest lost from the early years of the Spanish colonial period, when forest cover was over 90%. The first Christian missionaries saw trees extending from the shores to the mountaintops, and likened the country to a paradise.

Abuses of the countrys’ forests eventually harmed the population. The massive floods brought by typhoons “Uring” (international name “Thema”) in Ormoc in 1991 and “Ondoy” (“Ketsana”) in Metro Manila in 2009 were just two of the disasters blamed on massive deforestation. Lush forests and watersheds could have held large amounts of rainwater that otherwise flowed into the communities, experts said.

The coronavirus pandemic that is taking its toll on the world — rich and poor countries alike — is also a stark reminder of a catastrophe that happens when populations occupy the habitats of wild animals. Covid-19 is a zoonotic disease that experts said likely jumped from a bat, then to another host species, before it infected humans.

It’s a cycle of tragedies where humans are both the culprits and the victims.

Mallari predicted that Mindoro’s bleeding-hearts would soon vanish. It’s time to think seriously about the impacts of human activities on nature, he said. 

“Extinction of species is not just about the cuddly animals,” he said. “We care because they are the building blocks of our ecosystem. ‘ Pag nawala sila, wala rin tayo (If they are gone, so are we).” The Philippines is one of the world’s very few mega-biodiverse countries and one of the most vulnerable to climate impacts. The stakes are higher for the country.

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

The vanishing Philippine forests: Extent of forest cover loss in the last century Source: Dolom, 2006; Adopted from Environmental Science for Social Change  (1999) Courtesy of Dr. Neil Aldrin Mallari, Center for Conservation Innovations

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Threatened and endemic species are retreating to mountains where forests offer refuge. Source: Dr. Neil Aldrin Mallari, Center for Conservation Innovations

Dwindling forests

Forests made up 27.5 million hectares or 92% of the country’s total land area in the 16th century, when Spanish colonizers arrived. Forest cover dropped to 15.8 million hectares during the last years of the American occupation and to 10.6 million hectares just before the declaration of Martial Law. It further shrank to 6.4 million hectares just after the 1986 People Power Revolution. Since then the country’s forest cover hovered at just under 7 million hectares on average.

The Americans systematized logging, which worsened during Martial Law when dictator Ferdinand Marcos rewarded relatives and cronies with Timber License Agreements (TLA). The country recorded one of the worst deforestation rates in the Asia and Pacific region during those years, losing 316,000 hectares of forest annually on average. The TLA holders did not adopt selective logging, a sustainable way of harvesting timber. They cleared forests, did not replant, and even went beyond their concession areas. 

Each administration drew up policies and programs to restore forests. Rehabilitation efforts have been in place since the 1910s, and there’s a long list of acronyms and agreements between and among national and local governments, communities living within and near forests, as well as the private sector.  But these efforts were mired in allegations of mismanagement, corruption and power play. Following the fall of the Marcos regime, the Cory Aquino government prioritized reforestation with support from bilateral partners and multilateral institutions. Timber exports were banned in 1992 and community-based approaches were introduced following the devastation brought by Typhoon "Uring," whose heavy rains submerged Ormoc City and killed over 5,000 Filipinos. 

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Click to see timeline

Jose Andres Canivel, executive director of the Forest Foundation, said massive deforestation stopped when the government halted the issuance of TLAs. No conclusive data was available, but the shift to Community-Based Forestry Management Agreements might have helped ease the pressure on forests, he said. It’s a tenurial instrument that allows qualified upland communities and people’s organizations to develop, utilize and manage portions of forest lands and resources.  Forests recover if left alone, and conversion to agricultural land, timber poaching, and forest fires are stopped. They regenerate with the help of bats, birds, and other animals that disperse seeds, Canivel said. 

He cited areas in the Sierra Madre and Apayao, which were once logged over but now have closed-canopy forests. “Nag-logging d’yan, natigil (They used to log there), now the forest has taken it back,” he said.

The second Aquino government also embarked on a massive reforestation program, the National Greening Program, which aimed to double the country’s forest cover by 2028. Funded by taxpayers’ money, it sought to rehabilitate 7.1 million hectares of unproductive, denuded, and degraded forest lands. 

President Benigno Aquino III also banned logging across the country entirely, in the wake of severe floodings that also claimed many lives. Prior to the executive order, the impacts of Tropical Storm “Sendong” (“Washi”) in December 2010 and Typhoon “Ondoy” (“Ketsana”) in September 2009 were linked to deforestation. 

Despite these efforts, however, the country’s forest cover has not grown from 7 million hectares since the first Aquino administration. It hit a plateau because gains from restoration efforts in some parts of the country were erased by losses in others. 

The steady numbers betray the alarming rate of deforestation in many parts of the country, according to experts. The geographical breakdown of 12 years’ worth of data showed that half of all provinces registered losses totaling more than 154,000 hectares, based on the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority’s satellite survey.

The real situation is probably worse. Canivel said satellite imagery should be verified on the ground because plantations might have also been scanned. Many forests had been cleared to make way for plantations, which did not count as forests, he said. For instance, forests in the Caraga region had been planted with timber, and in Palawan, oil palm. Samson Pedragosa, Haribon Foundation advocacy officer, also questioned liberal definitions of forests adopted by the Philippines. A half-hectare land with a tree canopy cover of more than 10% is considered a forest, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Mallari said this global definition did not quite match the characteristics of tropical rainforests, which should be dense and diverse. An increase in forest cover might not necessarily be due to growing trees, but because of the way forests were redefined, he said. Philippine forests are also defined by their physical attributes – more than 1,000 meters above sea level and/or with an 18% slope – rather than their ecological function, Mallari said. PCIJ requested an interview with the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) to verify the data it had provided as well as understand the country’s forest management strategy. The FMB acknowledged PCIJ’s letter, but could not respond to questions as of writing.

Global Forest Watch (GFW), a US-based monitor of global forests , has an alternate barometer of annual forest loss showing that more than 7,700 hectares of forest cover, equivalent to nearly 20 basketball courts, were lost every hour in the Philippines last year.

This adds up to an area the size of Iloilo City in over a year. The loss was 2% higher in 2020, mirroring the global trend. Last year, forest destruction increased 12% worldwide. 

GFW also uses satellite imagery to measure deforestation, but its data cannot be compared with FMB’s. The former monitors not just forest loss, but all other indicators of deforestation, like tree loss, tree gain, and fire alerts.

From 2002 to 2020, the country recorded 150,813 hectares of primary forest loss , GFW data also showed. Alarming rates of deforestation are happening worldwide. GFW recorded 4.2 million hectares of forest loss , an area the size of the Netherlands, occurring within tropical primary forests around the globe. Some progress, however, has been recorded in Southeast Asia as forest losses in Indonesia and Malaysia have declined for the fourth year in a row in 2020.

Read about Malaysia’s declining forest loss by Rainforest Investigations Network fellow Yao Hua Law of Macaranga.

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Click to see data on forest loss in Philippine provinces

Explore recent deforestation and fire alerts via Global Forest Watch

Greening Program

The Duterte government continued Aquino’s reforestation program. The Enhanced National Greening Program (E-NGP) seeks to rehabilitate 1.2 million hectares of denuded forest lands before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends in 2022.  More than 1.74 billion seedlings have been planted from 2011 to 2020 in more than 2 million hectares of land area, FMB records showed. The program likewise generated more than five million jobs. The E-NGP is among the programs designed to achieve the country’s REDD+ objective – results-based climate change mitigation strategy – under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “REDD” stands for “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.” The plus sign represents the expansion of its focus to the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. The Philippines drew up its National REDD+ Strategy in 2010 but an update published by the FMB in June 2017 showed that the country was still in the “readiness phase” and taking “readiness steps” to establish demonstration sites, as well as  undertaking studies to implement it.  FAO’s 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment ranked the Philippines as fifth among 234 countries with the greatest reported gain in forest area annually from 2010 to 2015. The FMB attributed it to the then four-year-old National Greening Program. Researchers have raised red flags on the implementation of the program. In 2019, the Commission on Audit (COA) found several issues with the DENR’s fast-tracking of the program as it led to the imposition of targets beyond the capacities of officials; the lack of survey, mapping, and planning; and the inclusion of far untenured areas, which will be abandoned after the term of the maintenance and protection contract, among others. “Instead of increasing forest cover, fast-tracking reforestation activities only increased the incidences of wastage,” the COA said. State think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies found that the survival rate of the trees planted under the NGP stood at just 61% in 2016 or below the 85% goal. Moreover, University of the Philippines researchers found that forest cover loss in three sites in the Sierra Madre mountain range declined from 2011 to 2015 but increased from 2016 to 2018. Using satellite data, the study found that the net effect was a balance of reforestation and deforestation, or no significant gain. Mallari, Canivel, Pedragosa and former environment undersecretary Antonio La Viña all raised concerns over the implementation of the NGP and the E-NGP. They said the efforts to protect the seedlings, the kinds of trees planted, and where the trees were planted needed to be scrutinized.  GFW data from 2002 to 2020 even showed that forest loss in the Philippines had reached a record high during the Duterte administration. The country lost more than 10,000 hectares of primary forest on average every year during his term. This was higher than the annual averages during the terms of Gloria Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III.  In a span of 18 years, forest loss reached its peak in 2017 during Duterte’s second year in office. The decline continued in the following years although the figures remained within the annual average of about 8,000 hectares.

Pockets of success, however, can be found in rehabilitation efforts done by nongovernment organizations, community groups and the private sector in areas such as the Ipo Watershed, Upper Marikina Watershed, and the Masungi Georeserve. At the center of these efforts are the communities that live in or near the forests.

Forests and climate change

The Duterte government excluded reforestation efforts from its list of commitments under the 2016 Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. Instead, it was included among adaptation measures, in which Manila pledged to “pursue forest protection, forest restoration and reforestation, and access to results-based finance in forest conservation.” Mitigation is aimed at addressing and minimizing the causes of climate change, while adaptation is focused on reducing its impacts.  This was curious, according to La Viña, also a former climate change negotiator for the Philippines, and Ian Rivera, coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice. La Viña said he was still studying why the government did not include forests to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in its list of commitments. The sectors included in the country’s mitigation efforts are “agriculture, wastes, industry, transport, and energy.” Loss of forests is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. At least 20% of global emissions come from deforestation. Addressing the problem is crucial to avoiding the dangerous impacts of climate change. “We should be looking at enhancement so we can go back to at least 10 million (hectares), for instance,” said La Viña. Neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia  are good examples as they have placed forests front and center to mitigate emissions. Indonesia imposed a moratorium on the clearing of primary forests, prohibited the conversion of remaining forests, and adopted sustainable forest management measures. Malaysia committed to conserve its Central Forest Spine, which supplies 90% of its water, and the 220,000-square-kilometer “Heart of Borneo,” said to be Asia’s last great rainforest. The Paris Agreement is an international treaty that aims to avert climate catastrophe. A total of 196 parties were expected to submit action plans last year.  The commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are detailed in documents called nationally determined contributions or NDC. A financial mechanism was also established, in which high-emitting developed countries provide funds to less industrialized countries. This will help developing countries like the Philippines, which emitted an average of 1.98 metric tons of carbon dioxide per capita in 2020 or about half of the global average of four metric tons, bear the brunt of climate change. Duterte initially aired his misgivings about the Paris climate agreement, questioning how developed countries had dictated the terms of the collective fund that would be used to help developing countries achieve climate goals. He eventually signed it in March 2017. Based on the NDC it submitted to the UNFCCC on April 15, 2021, the Philippines is targeting to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 75% by 2030. Accomplishing 72.29% of this goal depended on funding and assistance from the international community, based on its report to the UNFCCC on April 15, 2021. 

No greenlight for the ‘green bills’

Just maintaining the country’s forest cover is not enough, said La Viña, who is now executive director of the Manila Observatory, a scientific research center. “[There’s] no major initiative or nothing significantly negative comes to mind,” he said.  

He said proper management of the country’s forests is key, but laws that seek to do this have been languishing in Congress. 

The country’s primary forest code is a Martial Law-era presidential decree that essentially promotes commercial logging, La Viña said. Although P.D. 705 has since been modified with the passage of the National Integrated Protected Area System in 1992 and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act in 1997, a different law is needed to set the criteria on how forest resources should be managed and utilized, he said. 

“There’s no criteria when you can cut or not because we’re still using the old forestry code,” La Viña said. 

Canivel said P.D. 705 promised an industrialization scheme where forests would contribute to the economy, but this didn’t happen. He made the same call to pass “green bills'' pending in Congress. The log ban that Aquino issued in 2011 is only an executive order .

Experts have identified at least three urgent “green” bills – the National Land Use Act (NLUA), the Sustainable Forest Management Act (SMFA), and the Alternative Minerals Management Act (AMMA). 

Passage of the NLUA is needed to delineate forest boundaries and protect them. Land conversions are the main threats to forests, said Haribon’s Pedragosa. 

“Hindi pwedeng gamitin sa agriculture. Hindi pwede gamitin sa iba pang uses kung hindi forest lang talaga (It cannot be used for agriculture. It cannot be used for other purposes but it’s supposed to be just for forests),” he said. 

The SMFA is needed to set criteria for allowing logging, and settle debates on whether or not the government should allow selective logging or commercial logging. It should not be preoccupied with issuing timber-cutting or tree-cutting permits, and should set aside areas for conservation and management, restoration, and sustainable use, Canivel said.

“The new law has to be mindful of what we need to protect, what we need to restore and what we need to allow,” he said. 

Intended to replace the Mining Act of 1995, the AMMA seeks to ban extraction in environmentally critical areas such as small-island ecosystems and primary and secondary forests and watersheds. It also seeks to prohibit dumping of mine wastes into water systems.

All these laws are urgent, said Canivel. “We are faced with different realities. We understand forests better now. We certainly need a new policy framework.”  FIN

This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN). To learn more about forest stories across the globe, visit the RIN fellows’ page here . Infographics: Joseph Luigi Almuena

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Palawan IPs seek to stop consent process for 2 nickel mines in Brooke’s Point

The third and final set of Community Consultative Assembly is expected to be completed this month. But the indigenous peoples worry that the consultations are conducted simply to facilitate a process that had already been decided. 

Palawan council reverses decision to pave way for ‘Maldivian’ resort on forestland

Like many parts of Palawan, the pristinely beautiful and biodiverse town of Culion is being rezoned to pave the way for tourism development that would not bode well for the environment.

Mines in Lopez audit, firms linked to election donors seek new mining concessions

Applications for open-pit and offshore mines flood the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as the Duterte administration reverses its mining policy.

Mining in the Philippines: Of disasters and regulatory failures

This timeline plots how the country’s natural resources were exploited for mining and the government’s repeated attempts to regulate the industry.

Malacañang body signs NDAs with mining firms to keep review results confidential

Mines that failed the Gina Lopez-led audit eventually passed a multi-stakeholder review, but the government does not want to disclose the results, citing executive privilege.

PCIJ releases Lopez mine audit reports; MICC review stays secret

Mines lacked tree-cutting permits, impaired the function of watersheds, and failed to ensure the safety of employees, the Gina Lopez-led audit found.

Rise of electric cars threatens Philippine forests

The transition to clean energy is pressuring mineral-rich countries like the Philippines and nickel mines like Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. to dig even more.

Unsafe levels of hexavalent chromium found in Rio Tuba waterways

What was once a natural source of water has become a place that Palaweños stay away from. Residents worry that a nickel mine’s plan to expand would contaminate other waterways.

Palawan authorities rezone forest to allow mining

A nickel mine is on the brink of a major expansion in Mt. Bulanjao, a rainforest system considered by indigenous peoples as their ancestral home and protected by a Palawan conservation law.

A tribe divided

Mining in Palawan has pitted indigenous peoples against tribal leaders who have allowed big companies to mine their ancestral lands. The mental anxiety and stress brought by these conflicts also have a cost. 

Land use bill, other measures protecting forests stuck in Cynthia Villar’s Senate committee

At least three bills setting standards to protect the country’s natural resources and attain sustainable development are stuck in the Senate committee on environment, natural resources, and climate change. The measures are likely dead in the 18th Congress.

TIMELINE: Losing, saving Philippine forests

Here is a summary of how Philippine forests were managed (and plundered), from pre-colonial times to present.

MAP: Philippine forest losses, gains by province

Philippine power transmission monopoly ngcp questions rate review amid calls for refund.

Delays in the rate review process mean the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines will continue to charge transmission rates that critics have described as ‘excessive.’

NGCP told to ‘practice discipline’ to protect consumers

Energy industry regulators are urging utilities, especially monopolies like the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, to charge only reasonable expenses to consumer electric bills.

What is the rate reset process?

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Expository Essays

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The Modes of Discourse—Exposition, Description, Narration, Argumentation (EDNA)—are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these approaches and students’ need to understand and produce them.

What is an expository essay?

The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. This can be accomplished through comparison and contrast, definition, example, the analysis of cause and effect, etc.

Please note : This genre is commonly assigned as a tool for classroom evaluation and is often found in various exam formats.

The structure of the expository essay is held together by the following.

  • A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first paragraph of the essay.

It is essential that this thesis statement be appropriately narrowed to follow the guidelines set forth in the assignment. If the student does not master this portion of the essay, it will be quite difficult to compose an effective or persuasive essay.

  • Clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Transitions are the mortar that holds the foundation of the essay together. Without logical progression of thought, the reader is unable to follow the essay’s argument, and the structure will collapse.

  • Body paragraphs that include evidential support.

Each paragraph should be limited to the exposition of one general idea. This will allow for clarity and direction throughout the essay. What is more, such conciseness creates an ease of readability for one’s audience. It is important to note that each paragraph in the body of the essay must have some logical connection to the thesis statement in the opening paragraph.

  • Evidential support (whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal).

Often times, students are required to write expository essays with little or no preparation; therefore, such essays do not typically allow for a great deal of statistical or factual evidence.

  • A bit of creativity!

Though creativity and artfulness are not always associated with essay writing, it is an art form nonetheless. Try not to get stuck on the formulaic nature of expository writing at the expense of writing something interesting. Remember, though you may not be crafting the next great novel, you are attempting to leave a lasting impression on the people evaluating your essay.

  • A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in light of the evidence provided.

It is at this point of the essay that students will inevitably begin to struggle. This is the portion of the essay that will leave the most immediate impression on the mind of the reader. Therefore, it must be effective and logical. Do not introduce any new information into the conclusion; rather, synthesize and come to a conclusion concerning the information presented in the body of the essay.

A complete argument

Perhaps it is helpful to think of an essay in terms of a conversation or debate with a classmate. If I were to discuss the cause of the Great Depression and its current effect on those who lived through the tumultuous time, there would be a beginning, middle, and end to the conversation. In fact, if I were to end the exposition in the middle of my second point, questions would arise concerning the current effects on those who lived through the Depression. Therefore, the expository essay must be complete, and logically so, leaving no doubt as to its intent or argument.

The five-paragraph Essay

A common method for writing an expository essay is the five-paragraph approach. This is, however, by no means the only formula for writing such essays. If it sounds straightforward, that is because it is; in fact, the method consists of:

  • an introductory paragraph
  • three evidentiary body paragraphs
  • a conclusion

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  • How to write an expository essay

How to Write an Expository Essay | Structure, Tips & Examples

Published on July 14, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

“Expository” means “intended to explain or describe something.” An expository essay provides a clear, focused explanation of a particular topic, process, or set of ideas. It doesn’t set out to prove a point, just to give a balanced view of its subject matter.

Expository essays are usually short assignments intended to test your composition skills or your understanding of a subject. They tend to involve less research and original arguments than argumentative essays .

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Table of contents

When should you write an expository essay, how to approach an expository essay, introducing your essay, writing the body paragraphs, concluding your essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about expository essays.

In school and university, you might have to write expository essays as in-class exercises, exam questions, or coursework assignments.

Sometimes it won’t be directly stated that the assignment is an expository essay, but there are certain keywords that imply expository writing is required. Consider the prompts below.

The word “explain” here is the clue: An essay responding to this prompt should provide an explanation of this historical process—not necessarily an original argument about it.

Sometimes you’ll be asked to define a particular term or concept. This means more than just copying down the dictionary definition; you’ll be expected to explore different ideas surrounding the term, as this prompt emphasizes.

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an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

An expository essay should take an objective approach: It isn’t about your personal opinions or experiences. Instead, your goal is to provide an informative and balanced explanation of your topic. Avoid using the first or second person (“I” or “you”).

The structure of your expository essay will vary according to the scope of your assignment and the demands of your topic. It’s worthwhile to plan out your structure before you start, using an essay outline .

A common structure for a short expository essay consists of five paragraphs: An introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Like all essays, an expository essay begins with an introduction . This serves to hook the reader’s interest, briefly introduce your topic, and provide a thesis statement summarizing what you’re going to say about it.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

In many ways, the invention of the printing press marked the end of the Middle Ages. The medieval period in Europe is often remembered as a time of intellectual and political stagnation. Prior to the Renaissance, the average person had very limited access to books and was unlikely to be literate. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century allowed for much less restricted circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation.

The body of your essay is where you cover your topic in depth. It often consists of three paragraphs, but may be more for a longer essay. This is where you present the details of the process, idea or topic you’re explaining.

It’s important to make sure each paragraph covers its own clearly defined topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Different topics (all related to the overall subject matter of the essay) should be presented in a logical order, with clear transitions between paragraphs.

Hover over different parts of the example paragraph below to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

The invention of the printing press in 1440 changed this situation dramatically. Johannes Gutenberg, who had worked as a goldsmith, used his knowledge of metals in the design of the press. He made his type from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, whose durability allowed for the reliable production of high-quality books. This new technology allowed texts to be reproduced and disseminated on a much larger scale than was previously possible. The Gutenberg Bible appeared in the 1450s, and a large number of printing presses sprang up across the continent in the following decades. Gutenberg’s invention rapidly transformed cultural production in Europe; among other things, it would lead to the Protestant Reformation.

The conclusion of an expository essay serves to summarize the topic under discussion. It should not present any new information or evidence, but should instead focus on reinforcing the points made so far. Essentially, your conclusion is there to round off the essay in an engaging way.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a conclusion works.

The invention of the printing press was important not only in terms of its immediate cultural and economic effects, but also in terms of its major impact on politics and religion across Europe. In the century following the invention of the printing press, the relatively stationary intellectual atmosphere of the Middle Ages gave way to the social upheavals of the Reformation and the Renaissance. A single technological innovation had contributed to the total reshaping of the continent.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

  • Ad hominem fallacy
  • Post hoc fallacy
  • Appeal to authority fallacy
  • False cause fallacy
  • Sunk cost fallacy

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An expository essay is a broad form that varies in length according to the scope of the assignment.

Expository essays are often assigned as a writing exercise or as part of an exam, in which case a five-paragraph essay of around 800 words may be appropriate.

You’ll usually be given guidelines regarding length; if you’re not sure, ask.

An expository essay is a common assignment in high-school and university composition classes. It might be assigned as coursework, in class, or as part of an exam.

Sometimes you might not be told explicitly to write an expository essay. Look out for prompts containing keywords like “explain” and “define.” An expository essay is usually the right response to these prompts.

An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

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12.11: Habitat and Niche

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an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

What is your niche at school?

Are you on the basketball team? Are you a cheerleader? Do you play an instrument in the band? Your niche would be your role or place in the school. Organisms also each have their own niche in the ecosystem. Is an organism a  producer  or a consumer? How does the organism interact with other organisms? Is the organism involved in any symbiotic relationships?

Habitat and Niche

Each organism plays a particular role in its ecosystem. A  niche  is the role a  species  plays in the ecosystem. In other words, a niche is how an organism “makes a living.” A niche will include the organism's role in the flow of  energy  through the ecosystem. This involves how the organism gets its energy, which usually has to do with what an organism eats, and how the organism passes that energy through the ecosystem, which has to do with what eats the organism. An organism's niche also includes how the organism interacts with other organisms, and its role in recycling nutrients.

Once a niche is left vacant, other organisms can fill that position. For example when the Tarpan, a small wild horse found mainly in southern Russia, became extinct in the early 1900s, its niche was filled by a small horse breed, the Konik (Figure below). Often this occurs as a new  species  evolves to occupy the vacant niche.

When the Tarpan horse breed became extinct, the Konik horse breed occupied its niche in the ecosystem

A species' niche must be specific to that  species ; no two species can fill the same niche. They can have very similar niches, which can overlap, but there must be distinct differences between any two niches. If two species do fill the same niche, they will compete for all necessary resources. One species will out compete the other, forcing the other species to adapt or risk extinction. This is known as competitive exclusion.

When plants and  animals  are introduced, either intentionally or by accident, into a new environment, they can occupy the existing niches of native organisms. Sometimes new species out-compete native species, and the native species may go extinct. They can then become a serious pest. For example, kudzu, a Japanese vine, was planted in the southeastern United States in the 1870s to help control soil loss. Kudzu had no natural predators, so it was able to out-compete native species of vine and take over their niches (Figure below).

The Kudzu is a species that has no natural predators and out-competed existing vines to take over their niches

The  habitat  is the physical area where a species lives. Many factors are used to describe a habitat. The average amount of sunlight received each day, the range of annual temperatures, and average yearly rainfall can all describe a habitat. These and other abiotic factors will affect the kind of traits an organism must have in order to survive there. The  temperature , the amount of rainfall, the type of soil and other abiotic factors all have a significant role in determining the plants that invade an area. The plants then determine the  animals  that come to eat the plants, and so on. A habitat should not be confused with an ecosystem: the habitat is the actual place of the ecosystem, whereas the ecosystem includes both the  biotic  and abiotic factors in the habitat.

Santa Cruz Island has a diverse set of habitats

Habitat destruction  means what it sounds like—an organism's habitat is destroyed. Habitat destruction can cause a  population  to decrease. If bad enough, it can also cause species to go extinct. Clearing large areas of land for housing developments or businesses can cause habitat destruction. Poor fire management, pest and weed invasion, and storm damage can also destroy habitats. National parks, nature reserves, and other protected areas all preserve habitats.

Science Friday: The Unlikely Tale of a Tenacious Snail

For over 70 years, no one had seen the oblong rocksnail. Declared extinct in 2000, the species was considered to be another native Alabaman mollusk gone and forgotten. But one day in the spring of 2011, biology grad student Nathan Whelan picked up a tiny rock and got a big surprise.

  • The role a species plays in the ecosystem is called its niche.
  • A habitat is the physical environment in which a species lives.

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Use the resource below to answer the questions that follow.

  • Competition ,  Predation ,  Symbiosis   at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1aRSeT-mQE  (3:20)

  • How do you think rapid changes in the chracteristics of habitats affect the niches of  animals  occupying that habitat?
  • Do you think rapid or gradual environmental changes have a greater potential to affect an organism's niche? Explain your answer.
  • On a very broad scale, how are the niches of a carnivore and an herbivore in the same geographic area similar? How do they differ?
  • What is a niche?
  • Can two species share the same niche? Why or why not?
  • Name three factors that can be used to describe a habitat.
  • Distinguish between a habitat and an ecosystem.

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Philippine economic development, looking backwards and forward: an interpretative essay.

an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

Over the past decade, the Philippine development story has attracted international attention as it transformed from being the “Sick Man of Asia” to “Asia’s Rising Tiger”. However, the country’s strong growth momentum was abruptly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to cast a huge shadow over its development outlook. With the country now at the crossroads, this paper reflects on and draws lessons for economic development and policy by examining the country’s three main economic episodes over the post-independence era: (a) the period of moderately strong growth from 1946 to the late 1970s, (b) the tumultuous crisis years from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, and (c) the period from the early 1990s to the 2019 when it rejoined the dynamic East Asian mainstream. Through comparative analysis, the paper also seeks to understand the country’s development dynamics and political economy. We conclude by highlighting elements of a recovery and reform agenda in the post-pandemic era.

Key Words: Philippines, economic development, economic history, political economy, institutions, COVID-19, ASEAN, comparative analysis

JEL codes: E02, I0, N15, O10, O43, O53, P52

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  1. an expository essay on philippine habitats and niches

    An Expository Essay on Philippine Habitats and Niches.docx Gerald Lee Ecosystem Paper.docx Climate change is a major problem worldwide.pdf Pennsylvania State University, Abington A wolf is an example of what member of the food chain? ... Lesson 3 Using of Expository Mode of Paragraph Development Lesson 4 APA In-text Citation After going through ...

  2. An Expository Essay on Philippine Habitats and Niches.docx

    Von Phillip F. Cabando GEL110CS BSCS-3 CYCLE 3 (1:00-3:30) An Expository Essay on Philippine Habitats and Niches Philippines is am archipelagic country, composed of more than 7,500 islands. Being situated near the equator, Philippines has a tropical climate and a Geography befitting for a multitude of wildlife to appear. This, along with plenty other factors make Philippines a hotspot for ...

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    PERIOD/YEAR. * Annual Average from 1960-2010. Total number of trees cut from natural forests (1960-2010 ) - 89,191,971 trees Average number of trees harvested from natural forests per year (1960-2010) = 1,748,682 trees. About 1,595,826 naturally growing trees were saved annually upon closure of the 19 logging concessions nationwide in 2011.

  4. Foundation for the Philippine Environment

    Export PDF Biodiversity The Lay of the Land: Ecosystem Diversity in the Philippines. Viewing biodiversity at the ecosystem level is a holistic way of appreciating and analyzing the natural richness of the Philippines, taking in consideration the dynamic ecological functions and interactions of both the living and the non-living parts of the biosphere within a given location, as well as the ...

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    Protected Areas as forefront of Biodiversity Conservation in the Philippines. The Philippines has always been considered one of the mega diverse country in the world. With ecosystems that boast of one of the highest levels of diversity and endemicity of life forms and some of the most unique habitats in the world-home to some of the planet's ...

  6. Hope for Threatened Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons from the Philippines

    The loss and degradation of tropical ecosystems throughout the planet are threatening numerous species with extinction and thereby driving a biodiversity crisis with serious consequences for human well-being. In Southeast Asia, the threat is greatest where human populations are dense, impoverished, and rapidly increasing (Sodhi et al. 2004).The Philippines exemplifies this critical situation.

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    The Philippines is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth and home to a variety of species found nowhere else on the planet. The photos included below offer a glimpse at the 120,457-hectare Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape — a vital habitat located on the Philippine island of Palawan that is home to more than 1,000 plant and ...

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    The Philippines is located in a region called the Coral Triangle; an area of exceptional importance as it is recognized as the global center for marine biodiversity. Within this region, the Philippines is also known as the center of this center. The marine resources are made up of coral reefs, seagrass beds, seaweeds, invertebrates, fisheries, and many others. Unfortunately, the Philippines is ...

  9. Philippines' Mangrove Ecosystem: Status, Threats, and Conservation

    The Philippines has lost approximately 75% of its mangrove habitats over the last few decades, with the majority of it disappearing between 1950 and 1990 (Samson & Rollon, as cited in Pototan et ...

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    Habitats. The three principal natural terrestrial habitats in the Philippines occur along elevational gradients, with lowland forest, montane forest, and mossy forest as the primary elements, arranged from the bottom to the top of each mountain. The elevational range of the habitats on any specific mountain varies based on the elevation of the ...

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    THE LAS PIÑAS - PARAÑAQUE CRITICAL HABITAT AND ECOTOURISM AREA (LPPCHEA) AND ECOSYSTEMS OF MANILA BAY The TEEB Philippine Country Study is part of the cross-country effort to pilot the TEEB methodology that aims to make values of ecosystem services visible in policy and management decisions. Following the scoping and stakeholder ...

  12. PDF The Philippine Indigenous Peoples' Struggle for Land and Life

    Arizona Journal of International & Comparative Law Vol 21, No. 1 2004 272 term "indigenous peoples."6 Of the more than 75 million Filipinos, about 12 to 15 million are indigenous peoples, or about 17-22% of the total population in 1995. 7 The population data regarding the indigenous peoples in the country vary

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    Biodiversity Loss in the Philippines. The 2018 report of the Inter-governmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) describes the scale of these challenges. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, high rates of habitat fragmentation and degradation, especially in forests, have led to a decline in wild mammals and birds.

  14. 7M hectares of Philippine land are forested

    The Duterte government continued Aquino's reforestation program. The Enhanced National Greening Program (E-NGP) seeks to rehabilitate 1.2 million hectares of denuded forest lands before President Rodrigo Duterte's term ends in 2022. More than 1.74 billion seedlings have been planted from 2011 to 2020 in more than 2 million hectares of land area, FMB records showed.

  15. Expository Essays

    The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. This can be accomplished through comparison and contrast, definition, example, the analysis of cause and effect, etc.

  16. Activity 2.1 Expository Essay on Habitats and Niches.docx

    View Activity 2.1 Expository Essay on Habitats and Niches.docx from CAS 1234 at Misamis University. "FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM, MARINE ECOSYSTEM, MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM, FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND GRASSLAND

  17. How to Write an Expository Essay

    The structure of your expository essay will vary according to the scope of your assignment and the demands of your topic. It's worthwhile to plan out your structure before you start, using an essay outline. A common structure for a short expository essay consists of five paragraphs: An introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

  18. PDF Habitat Iii

    2.6.2 Migration in the Philippines: Spurring Growth, Urbanization, and Urban Sprawl 18 2.6.3 The Philippines' Youth Bulge: Dividend or Bomb? 18 2.6.4 Protecting the Rights of the Vulnerable and Disadvantaged 19 .7 Future Challenges and Issues That Can Be Addressed by a New Urban Agenda 19

  19. PDF Writing an Expository Essay

    Section 1 Essay structure An essay is a piece of writing made up of a number of paragraphs. Each paragraph has a specifi c role in an essay. In a fi ve-paragraph essay, the fi rst paragraph is an introduction; the second, third, and fourth paragraphs form the body of the essay; and the fi fth paragraph is a conclusion (see diagram on page 4).

  20. Expository Essay: Reading in Philippine history

    So together let's discover the importance of studying history. This paper will discuss the importance of learning history, especially the history of the Philippines. The importance include, knowing the identification or the origination of Philippines and its people, discovering its culture and to overview the progress or development of the ...

  21. 12.11: Habitat and Niche

    For example when the Tarpan, a small wild horse found mainly in southern Russia, became extinct in the early 1900s, its niche was filled by a small horse breed, the Konik (Figure below). Often this occurs as a new species evolves to occupy the vacant niche. Figure 12.11.1 12.11. 1: The Konik horse. A species' niche must be specific to that ...

  22. PDF HABITAT III: The Philippine National Report and New Urban Agenda

    Habitat II Istanbul 1996 Habitat III Quito 2016 AGENDA: Sustainable human settlements and the consequences of rapid urbanization AGENDA: Sustainable cities and adequate shelter for all; Habitat Agenda AGENDA: Review the global urban agenda and the mandate, structure and strengthening of UN-Habitat Shelter and Human Settlements: Philippine

  23. Philippine economic development, looking backwards and forward: An

    Over the past decade, the Philippine development story has attracted international attention as it transformed from being the "Sick Man of Asia" to "Asia's Rising Tiger". However, the country's strong growth momentum was abruptly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to cast a huge shadow over its development outlook.