PHILIPPINE

BIODVERISTY
CHAPTER 4
FACTS!
Located in the Pacific Ocean near the
equator, the Republic of the Philippines
consists of around 7,640 islands — about
2,000 of which are inhabited — that form
an archipelago.
FACTS!
One of 18 mega-biodiverse countries of
the world, containing two-thirds of the
earth's biodiversity and between 70% and
80% of the world's plant and animal
species.
Plant Species
15,000 plant species, half are
endemic.

Example
• dapdap (Erythrina variegata)
• molave (Vitex parviflora)
• malabulak (Bombax ceiba)
• katmon (Dillenia philippinensis)
Insect Species
More than 20,000
species of insects,
70% are unique.
NEW
DICOVERY!
Metapocyrtus
(Orthocyrtus) davaoensis

University of
Mindanao's
Coleoptera
Research Center
Amphibians

More than 105 species of

amphibians
Reptiles

254 species of reptiles,

82% cannot be found
anywhere else
Avian

More than 500 species of

birds
• The Philippines is one of the most
biologically diverse nations in the
world.
• Species endemism is very high covering at
least 25 genera of plants and 49% of
terrestrial wildlife.
PHILIPPINE
• The Philippines, 4th in bird endemism, 5th FOREST
in number of plant species and maintains
5% of the world’s flora.
• About 121 endemic and 76 threatened
species.
Philippine Forest Cover
SAD FACTS
• Between 1990 and 2005,
Philippines lost 32.3% of its
forest cover, or around
3,412,000 hectares.
 TYPES OF
PHILIPPINE FOREST
Dipterocarp Forest
• Philippine tropical rain forest
• Philippine Mahogany group
• Occur from coastal flats up to about 800
meters elevation.
• Rainfall is more or less uniform throughout
the year or where the dry season is very
short.
Molave Forest

Occurs in regions with a very distinct

wet and dry season.

Typical for limestone soils in coastal

area which are usually quite shallow
and excessively drained.

Very durable and valuable woo

entailing a high demand especially
for railroad sleepers.
Beach Forest
• Found on sandy
beaches above the
high tide limits
where the original
form of vegetation
has been left
undisturbed.
• It is dominated with
coconut, Bitaog,
Talisai, Agoho and
etc.,
Mangrove Forest
• Occur along tidal flats at the mouths
of streams and along the shores of
protected bays.
• The stands are composed of eight
species of the Rhizophoraceae family,
once the principal source of tanbark
and dyebark but are now the main
sources of charcoal production.
Pine Forest
• Benguet pine forests form extensive
stands in Northern Luzon mountains
while the Mindoro pine occupies only an
estimated 5,000 to 6,000 hectares in two
isolated areas in Northern Zambales and
Northern Mindanao.
• The altitude range of Benguet pine
extends from 700 meters to about 1,800
masl. The two known Mindoro pine
stands occupy areas mainly between
100 to 500 meters elevation.
Mossy Forest / Upper
Montane Forest
• Characterized by a relatively low
temperature, high and uniform
humidity in the form of rain and fog
throughout the year, short duration
of sunshine and strong winds.
• Presence of numerous of epiphytes
consisting of mosses, liverworts,
ferns and orchids in great variety
Plantation Forest
The establishment of forest
plantations in the Philippines
primarily aims to provide
environmental protection of
watersheds and other critical
areas as well as to produce wood
a forest products to supplement
the raw material requirements of
forest – based industries.
Deforestation

Intensive
Commercial Upland Agricultural
logging over
logging migration expansion
decades

Inequitable
Development
land
policy failures
distribution
 Declining wood availability,
heavy soil erosion and
flashfloods led to logging bans
on primary forests with
concessions reduced to a few
sustainable operations and
massive reforestation efforts in
the last few decades.
Effects!
Not only the typical giant trees will
disappear more and more, also more than
3500 species of plants and animals.

Example of Threatened Species

▪Tarsier
▪Philippine Eagle
▪Philippine cockatoo
▪Flying lemurs
▪Flower peckers
▪Philippine crocodile
 • National Integrated Protected Areas
System
• provides for the establishment and
management of protected areas in the
RA 7586 – Philippines.
NIPAS Act of • protect outstandingly remarkable areas
1992 and biologically important public lands
that are habitats of rare and endangered
species of plants and animals'
representative of biogeographic zones
and related ecosystems."
 • Providing for the conservation and
RA 9147 - protection of wildlife resources
and their habitats, appropriating
Wildlife funds there for and for other
Resources purposes.
Conservation • To conserve the country's wildlife
and Protection resources and their habitats for
Act of 2001 sustainability.
ASSIGNMENT!