The once spectacular primary forests of the Philippines are now a relic of a bygone era.

What little primary

forest does remain exists on the island of Palawan, the last sanctuary for the Palawan eagle. 

Between 1990 and 2005 the Philippines lost a third of its forest cover, according to FAO estimates, but the
country's deforestation is down since its peak in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Widespread logging was responsible for much of the historical forest loss in the Philippines. Despite
government bans on timber harvesting following severe flooding in the late 1980s and early 1990s, illegal
logging continues today. 

After temporarily lifting the log export ban in the late 1990s, the government has increasingly tried to crack
down on timber smuggling and forest degradation. Additional threats to Philippine forests come from legal
and illegal mining operations — which also cause pollution and have been linked to violent conflict —
agricultural fires, collection of fuelwood, and rural population expansion. In recent years, deforestation has
been increasingly blamed for soil erosion, river siltation, flooding, and drought; environmental awareness is
now rising in the country. 

Environmentalists in the Philippines now fear that plantation agriculture, especially oil palm, could emerge
as the newest threat to remaining forests. 

The continuing disappearance of Filipino wildlands is of great to concern to ecologists due to the high levels
of endemic species. Of the 1,196 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles in the country,
nearly 46 percent are endemic. Among plants, the number is around 40 percent. Only about 5 percent of the
Philippines land area is under some form of protection. 

A closer look at the forests of the Philippines 

Estimates of current forest cover in the Philippines are highly variable between sources. According to the
national Forest Management Bureau, forest cover in the Philippines declined from 21 million hectares, or
70% of the its land area, in 1900 to about 6.5 million hectares by 2007. This data is very similar that to the
U.N. FAO, which is usually based on government data. Both the government and the FAO show an increase
in overall forest cover since 1990. 
In contrast,
data first
published
in 2013 by
Matt
Hansen
and
colleagues
paints a
much
different
picture,
estimating
2012 forest
cover at
nearly 20
million
hectares,
using a 10
percent
tree cover
definition of forest. Hansen puts dense forests — areas with more than 50 percent tree cover — at 17.4
million hectares, or nearly three-fifths of the archipelago's land cover. 
 Hansen et al 2013

Total forest area Dense forest area Forest gain Forest loss Total land area
>10% tree cover % total land >50% tree cover % total land % total % total
2001-2012 (ha) 2001-2012 (ha) (ha)
(ha) cover (ha) cover forest cover forest cover

Abra 285086 71.8% 244282 61.6% 947 0.3% 2504 0.9% 396880

Agusan del Norte 250875 86.1% 226179 77.6% 3903 1.6% 7242 2.9% 291360

Agusan del Sur 790820 92.4% 759500 88.7% 17280 2.2% 48442 6.1% 856309

Aklan 125945 76.5% 107109 65.1% 2040 1.6% 2144 1.7% 164547

Albay 183242 73.3% 157983 63.2% 2493 1.4% 6151 3.4% 250040
Antique 166118 60.9% 137679 50.5% 1217 0.7% 2262 1.4% 272634

Apayao 356542 91.2% 344467 88.1% 4356 1.2% 16446 4.6% 391019

Aurora 280263 92.4% 271596 89.5% 2378 0.8% 7308 2.6% 303394

Basilan 126283 93.7% 121967 90.5% 1916 1.5% 4605 3.6% 134806

Bataan 74613 57.3% 66745 51.2% 295 0.4% 1310 1.8% 130268

Batanes 12781 63.9% 10923 54.6% 376 2.9% 270 2.1% 20000

Batangas 160387 53.8% 140235 47.0% 2911 1.8% 4627 2.9% 298121

Benguet 206975 78.6% 177053 67.2% 1154 0.6% 2170 1.0% 263379

Biliran 45257 85.0% 41932 78.7% 450 1.0% 487 1.1% 53252

Bohol 225612 57.0% 177919 45.0% 4290 1.9% 3602 1.6% 395747

Bukidnon 544024 59.9% 438034 48.2% 5109 0.9% 10732 2.0% 908427

Bulacan 133881 54.7% 116659 47.7% 1030 0.8% 3517 2.6% 244786

Cagayan 549277 62.8% 503373 57.5% 5199 0.9% 24911 4.5% 875166

Camarines Norte 177764 84.8% 164580 78.5% 1771 1.0% 4367 2.5% 209651

Camarines Sur 370685 70.9% 327625 62.6% 4032 1.1% 8352 2.3% 523084

Camiguin 21644 89.0% 20061 82.5% 259 1.2% 149 0.7% 24306

Capiz 129218 49.4% 93088 35.6% 1996 1.5% 2993 2.3% 261350

Catanduanes 133345 91.4% 128941 88.4% 1759 1.3% 3153 2.4% 145846

Cavite 52313 42.2% 44783 36.1% 299 0.6% 996 1.9% 123930

Cebu 253016 52.1% 173531 35.7% 2933 1.2% 6749 2.7% 485686

Compostela Valley 375378 88.4% 349621 82.4% 8134 2.2% 17403 4.6% 424406

Davao del Norte 267847 76.9% 226594 65.1% 4896 1.8% 8264 3.1% 348314

Davao del Sur 423007 70.0% 354343 58.7% 7155 1.7% 8882 2.1% 604087

Davao Oriental 465020 91.1% 438976 86.0% 8676 1.9% 15162 3.3% 510372

Dinagat Islands 65322 82.1% 56466 70.9% 492 0.8% 1370 2.1% 79602

Eastern Samar 405607 95.3% 390730 91.8% 3663 0.9% 8195 2.0% 425780

Guimaras 26075 43.7% 20627 34.5% 436 1.7% 525 2.0% 59719

Ifugao 152443 61.1% 129064 51.7% 1179 0.8% 3475 2.3% 249561

Ilocos Norte 199064 59.0% 168713 50.0% 768 0.4% 1573 0.8% 337355

Ilocos Sur 148490 59.4% 124167 49.6% 448 0.3% 912 0.6% 250099

Iloilo 173644 37.1% 132091 28.2% 2865 1.6% 5558 3.2% 468481

Isabela 541969 53.1% 501274 49.1% 2897 0.5% 20806 3.8% 1020881

Kalinga 208399 72.0% 188900 65.2% 1452 0.7% 4399 2.1% 289554

La Union 83700 57.5% 67594 46.4% 241 0.3% 596 0.7% 145634

Laguna 123530 67.5% 114030 62.3% 1171 0.9% 5479 4.4% 183113

Lanao del Norte 225190 79.5% 199083 70.3% 1176 0.5% 3943 1.8% 283331

Lanao del Sur 294877 83.9% 271254 77.2% 964 0.3% 6949 2.4% 351576

Leyte 427230 77.0% 387171 69.8% 4748 1.1% 8132 1.9% 554774

Maguindanao 100281 40.8% 63298 25.7% 1297 1.3% 3553 3.5% 245889

Marinduque 75236 81.5% 69952 75.8% 1411 1.9% 1677 2.2% 92288

Masbate 172665 43.3% 135620 34.0% 2936 1.7% 4754 2.8% 398656
Metropolitan
5878 10.8% 2347 4.3% 32 0.5% 66 1.1% 54454
Manila
Misamis
149098 78.8% 126568 66.9% 2364 1.6% 2814 1.9% 189232
Occidental

Misamis Oriental 228189 68.6% 188948 56.8% 2272 1.0% 2879 1.3% 332435

Mountain Province 166950 78.5% 149425 70.2% 860 0.5% 3752 2.2% 212810

Negros Occidental 257313 33.0% 185838 23.9% 2460 1.0% 4391 1.7% 778940

Negros Oriental 224358 44.9% 168820 33.8% 2819 1.3% 5555 2.5% 499182

North Cotabato 319885 50.4% 245273 38.6% 3893 1.2% 9462 3.0% 634974

Northern Samar 306250 90.7% 292055 86.5% 3788 1.2% 7021 2.3% 337578

Nueva Ecija 174914 32.2% 143157 26.3% 1667 1.0% 3631 2.1% 543761

Nueva Vizcaya 276650 70.5% 235898 60.1% 2823 1.0% 7567 2.7% 392241

Occidental
359721 61.0% 316382 53.6% 5994 1.7% 8208 2.3% 589963
Mindoro

Oriental Mindoro 305625 73.7% 270715 65.3% 7018 2.3% 9263 3.0% 414606

Palawan 1224507 85.0% 1148213 79.7% 28012 2.3% 64347 5.3% 1441271

Pampanga 45454 21.0% 28208 13.0% 446 1.0% 1090 2.4% 216395

Pangasinan 166160 32.2% 110701 21.5% 659 0.4% 1981 1.2% 515664

Quezon 719241 86.3% 680114 81.6% 11690 1.6% 30708 4.3% 833110

Quirino 242182 78.3% 223977 72.4% 1523 0.6% 9844 4.1% 309245

Rizal 80900 64.0% 70429 55.7% 1170 1.4% 2149 2.7% 126432

Romblon 105335 79.8% 96132 72.9% 1213 1.2% 3181 3.0% 131943

Samar 486864 89.8% 447249 82.5% 9346 1.9% 16047 3.3% 542184

Sarangani 232465 71.7% 191349 59.1% 2867 1.2% 7039 3.0% 324006

Shariff Kabunsuan 142126 62.2% 107264 47.0% 1097 0.8% 3942 2.8% 228381

Siquijor 16532 51.6% 11431 35.7% 489 3.0% 143 0.9% 32008

Sorsogon 160994 81.3% 147943 74.7% 1281 0.8% 2388 1.5% 197925

South Cotabato 249488 57.5% 203114 46.8% 4183 1.7% 7103 2.8% 433999

Southern Leyte 150785 89.7% 142566 84.8% 1246 0.8% 3007 2.0% 168034

Sultan Kudarat 274039 62.0% 234263 53.0% 4070 1.5% 10293 3.8% 441872

Sulu 131730 90.3% 122419 84.0% 2371 1.8% 2925 2.2% 145812

Surigao del Norte 167643 84.2% 151673 76.2% 1031 0.6% 2155 1.3% 199027

Surigao del Sur 396702 92.6% 380925 88.9% 7465 1.9% 18139 4.6% 428458

Tarlac 87583 29.1% 71543 23.7% 1287 1.5% 1766 2.0% 301321

Tawi-Tawi 104289 94.7% 100697 91.5% 2098 2.0% 5895 5.7% 110087

Zambales 197234 54.2% 159316 43.8% 681 0.3% 3406 1.7% 363598

Zamboanga del
484838 76.0% 419478 65.8% 13187 2.7% 26041 5.4% 637981
Norte
Zamboanga del
344226 65.5% 281327 53.5% 7678 2.2% 11572 3.4% 525809
Sur
Zamboanga
202193 75.0% 174361 64.7% 4161 2.1% 10044 5.0% 269565
Sibugay

Philippines 19799282 67.7% 17415929 59.5% 272638 1.4% 616910 3.1% 29251764