The Philippines - A Brief Summary

  • The Philippines is one of the 18 mega diverse countries in the world. 
  • has more than 52,170 described species, about half of which are found nowhere else in the world.  
  • on a per unit area basis, the Philippines is the top mega diversity country. 
  • In 1917, the country still had 17 million ha, or more than 50% of her 30 million ha land area. Today, the latest estimate shows that only about 7.168 million ha of Philippine forests remain (Philippine Forestry Statistics, 2003).
  • About 18-20 million Filipinos live in the uplands under abject poverty.*
  • Between 1990 and 2005, the Philippines lost one-third of its forest cover. 
  • The current deforestation rate is around 2% per year, a 20 % drop from the rate of the 1990s*

- from the "the Philippine Forest and Wildlife Law Enforcement (sponsored by USAID)^ Lasco, R. D.; R. D. (2001). "Secondary forests in the Philippines: formation and transformation in the 20th century". Journal of Tropical Forest Science 13 (4): 652–670

Government Regulation and Conservation

  • DENR is the primary government agency responsible for the conservation, management, development and proper use of the country’s environment and natural resources as well as the licensing and regulation of all natural resources (EO 192, 1987).
  • While there is an overseeing agency that aims to promote conservation, It is the editors' opinion that not enough is being done.

Start Browsing Orchid Genera