Country also 7th in the world
Veronica Uy, Inquirer.net Global Nation 10 Sep 08;
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines lost forest cover at a rate of 2.1 percent every year from 2000 to 2005, the fastest in southeast Asia and the seventh in the world, said Juan Echanove, a project officer of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.
"The Philippines' total forest area, including degraded forest, is now just 24 percent of the land area, the second smallest to urban Singapore in southeast Asia, and one of the smallest of all tropical countries in the world, and even well below dry Mediterranean countries like Greece or Italy," he said.
In his report, Echanove also said the forest to population ratio in the Philippines is only 0.1 hectares of forest per head, "one of the worst in the world -- at the level of Saharan countries."
He said that in Southeast Asia, there has been a net 2 percent decrease of forest area a year, equivalent to 2.8 million hectares per year, much of it in Indonesia
Myanmar had the second fastest rate of forest decline after the Philippines, he said.
Echanove said that for Asia, overall efforts to conserve biodiversity through a system of protected areas has been "positive" as there has been a net increase of forest area during the same period.
This, he said, is a change in trend from the 1990s, when the region "suffered a dramatic net loss of forest."
Echanove attributed the improvement to China's efforts to stop forest loss through massive investments in reforestation and log bans. He said China's efforts have resulted in an increase of forest area of four hectares a year.
He also noted India's small net increase of forest area.
However, he pointed, "although the approaches for protected areas management have changed considerably, human-animal conflicts remain unsolved and hunting and habitat destruction is resulting in continuous loss of wildlife in the Asian forests, illegal trade of endangered wildlife is still a major concern in many parts of Asia."
Echanove said the rise of the middle class in Asia, particularly in China, with a huge demand for forest products and eco-tourism services are taking its toll on the environment.
"Despite various efforts to conserve forest in Asia through logging bans, acceleration and reforestation programs, the pressure on natural resources will remain severe," he said.
Echanove said balancing demand for diverse array of products and services from different segments of society in poverty alleviation, population control, and equitable trade will continue to be the most important challenge facing Asia.
"The environment is the base of the survival of the poor. Forests cannot be protected without securing the interests of the people," he said.
