WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY SciEd 103- Environmental Science Image Source: Google

3. Currently, the Philippines has only six million hectares of
forested and remaining as forest-based resources. Of this
area, less than a million hectares are primarily growth
forests, mostly comprised of dipterocarps; the rest are
mangrove and pine forests.

5. Poverty drives people into the woods for fuel, food and
work.
World’s growing demand for wood products (timber)
encourages the continued rape of rainforests.
Global increase in the demand for forest products for
building constructions, furniture, plywood, firewood,
weaving materials, gums, resins, oils, charcoals, even
chopsticks for Japanese restaurants.
Government’s opening of the forest frontiers as the way
to bolster the economy and relocate people in various
settlement programs.
Ever-increasing and growing number of people who live
and continue to establish residence in the rainforest.

6. 1. If nothing is done to check global population growth and control
tropical deforestations, there may be only 20,000 square miles of
rainforest left in the world by year 2050, and nothing by 2100.
2. The practice of slash-and-burn affects the uncut area, and the
remaining trees earlier.
3. In steep areas, logging does not only destroy the forest, but also
erodes bare grounds.
4. Many valuable chemical compounds are sourced from the
jungles. Unfortunately, as the forests are cut, many of these
potentially life-saving tropical plants disappear forever.
5. More than 1,000 tribes of indigenous people are close to
extinction. The enrichment has led to repeated violence and lost
lives, mostly among native rubber trappers and settlers.
6. Deforestation releases more than a billion tons of carbon into the
air annually, contributing immensely to the greenhouse effect.

7. 1. Forest as Wildlife Habitat
National forests as well as private woodlands offer excellent wildlife
habitat.
2. Forest as Wilderness, Recreational and Scientific Areas
The wilderness is an area where the earth and its community of life
are untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor and
does not remain.
3. Forest as Source of Fuel
An alternative source of energy is the biomass of tress, which is
renewable. Wood and wood products provide 1.5% of the
energy consumed globally.
4. Forest as Source of Wood production
The Philippines’ forest and wood industry contributed significantly
to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and export earnings.
However, primary and secondary wood-based activities
accounted for only 2.5% of the national output in 1988 as
compared to 9.8% in 1970.

10. Aerial seeding using planes flying slowly
just above the treetops is employed in
rugged terrains.

11. Actual planting of young trees from
plantation stock is a better and more
successful means of reforestation.

13. 1. Slash-and-burn Agriculture
Much forest destruction can be blamed on
slash-and-burn shifting agriculture.

14. Fire is used as a tool in slash-and-burn farming
(kaingin system) to dispose fallen trees and
prevent the invasion of weeds and shrubs in the
crop area.

17. Commercial logging in tropical is frequently
wasteful and inefficient. Most clearcut areas do
not become reforested by natural means.

19. Kathlyn & Khaye 