The Philippines is facing a rapid decline of forest cover—from 27 million hectares down to already as little as 7 million hectares. In fact, most of the country’s old growth forests are in danger of deforestation. Forests in Palawan, Sierra Madre, Samar and Leyte, and Mindanao are threatened by agricultural conversion and human settlements.
Along with the combined threats of logging activities, poor law enforcement, and mining projects in biodiversity-rich areas such as Palawan, the country is losing approximately 47,000 hectares of forest cover every year, according to the data provided by the Forest Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
