Every time there are floods and landslides, the destruction of natural resources are often blamed. The truth is that these calamities have been with us since time immemorial. But as more and more people are affected, they become more apparent.
Some environmentalists, church leaders, non-experts and even politicians cite the rapid disappearance of forest cover as the main culprit. A report from the World Bank said that forest covered 57 percent (or 17.1 million hectares) of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares. By 1990, this has been substantially reduced to 6.1 million hectares.
Recent estimates put the forest cover at around 5.4 million hectares. Only about 800,000 hectares of primary forest, mostly found in Palawan, remain. "Where have all our forests gone?" environmentalists deplored.
As forested areas are devoid of their cover, soil erosion takes over. A 1993 study of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management found that 45 percent of the county’s land area suffered from moderate to severe erosion.
"Soil is made by God and put here for man to use, not for one generation but forever," said Rev. Harold R. Watson, former director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center. "It takes thousands of years to build one inch of topsoil but only good strong rain to remove one inch from unprotected soil on the slopes of mountains."
Some environmentalists believe the removal of forest cover also triggers flood. This was based from the so-called "sponge theory." According to the theory, the complex of forest soil, roots and litter acts as a giant sponge, soaking up water during rainy spells and releasing it evenly during dry periods, when the water is most needed.
Is this theory fact or fiction? Gifford Pinchot, author of A Primer of Forestry, wrote in 1905: "Rain which falls over a bare slop acts differently. It is not caught by the crowns nor held by the flood, nor is its flow into the streams hindered by the timber and the fallen waste from the trees. It does not sink into the ground more than half as readily as in the forest, as experiments have shown. The result is that a great deal of water reaches the streams in a short time, which is the reason why floods occur."
Pinchot further explained, "It is therefore true that forests tend to prevent floods. But this good influence (of forests on floods) is important only when the forest covers a large part of the drainage basin of the stream. Even then the forest may not prevent floods altogether. The forest floor, which has more to do with the fallen rain water than any other part of the forest, can affect its flow only so long as it has not taken up all the water it can hold. That which falls after the forest floor is saturated runs into the streams almost as fast as it would over bare ground."
A 30-page booklet published the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that considerable quantities of rainfall (up to 35 percent) can be intercepted by the canopies of tropical forests and evaporated back into the atmosphere without contributing to soil water reserves. Much of the soil that does soak into the soil is used by the trees themselves.
Contrary to common belief, forests have only a limited influence on major downstream flooding, especially large-scale events. The FAO booklet informs, "During a major rainfall event (like those that result in massive flooding), especially after prolonged periods of preceding rainfall, the forest soil becomes saturated and water no longer filters into the soil but instead runs off along the soil surface."
Who should be held responsible for the rapid disappearance of the country’s forest cover? The surging population no less. The United Nations demographers projected in 2002 that the Philippine population would reach between 75 and 85 million. But the population overshot the high projection and now stands at about 90 million.
In the past, some government officials described the Philippines "as a rich country pretending to be poor." But reality bites. Today, about 40 percent of the total population are considered poor or those whose incomes fall below the threshold determined by the government, or those who cannot afford to provide in a sustained manner for their minimum basic needs for food, health, education, housing and other social amenities in life.
Being poor and due to the increasing number of children, more and more heads of the family have encroached the ecologically-fragile uplands. "Do you think we would be tilling this land if we are rich and have less mouth to feed?" a farmer pointed out.
These farmers have no choice but to cut the trees and plant crops. "Increasing cultivation on sloping lands using standard lowland farming techniques is leading to severe erosion," the World Bank report said.
More than half of the country’s total land area are uplands, which are mostly teemed with forests in the past. "Population pressure in the postwar period has led to a substantial increase of cultivation in upland areas," the World Bank report stated.
"The principal causes of deforestation in the Philippines are illegal logging, shifting cultivation (referring to kaingin farming), and forest fires, as well as conversion to agricultural lands and human settlements," the report added.
Rampant mining has also contributed to the disappearance of the forest cover. Miners have to cut the trees to get the gold and other precious metals out of the mountains. But again it boils down to population. "If there are less people, there would be few people who will buy those gold and other accessories," said a businessman who didn’t want to be identified. In other words, less demand means less mining.
"The way I look at the Philippine environment, forest and people today is that we really have a very damaged ecosystem," observed Delfin Ganapin, Jr., the global manager of the Global Environment Fund of the United Nations Development Program. "In fact, when I started doing forestry work, there was already quite significant damage in our forests. And that gets you to start thinking of what are the roots of the problem?"
"Some foresters think forestry is about trees," the FAO’s Jack Westoby wrote in 1967. "This is wrong. Forestry is about people. And it is about trees only insofar as they serve the needs of people."
Some environmentalists, church leaders, non-experts and even politicians cite the rapid disappearance of forest cover as the main culprit. A report from the World Bank said that forest covered 57 percent (or 17.1 million hectares) of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares. By 1990, this has been substantially reduced to 6.1 million hectares.
Recent estimates put the forest cover at around 5.4 million hectares. Only about 800,000 hectares of primary forest, mostly found in Palawan, remain. "Where have all our forests gone?" environmentalists deplored.
As forested areas are devoid of their cover, soil erosion takes over. A 1993 study of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management found that 45 percent of the county’s land area suffered from moderate to severe erosion.
"Soil is made by God and put here for man to use, not for one generation but forever," said Rev. Harold R. Watson, former director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center. "It takes thousands of years to build one inch of topsoil but only good strong rain to remove one inch from unprotected soil on the slopes of mountains."
Some environmentalists believe the removal of forest cover also triggers flood. This was based from the so-called "sponge theory." According to the theory, the complex of forest soil, roots and litter acts as a giant sponge, soaking up water during rainy spells and releasing it evenly during dry periods, when the water is most needed.
Is this theory fact or fiction? Gifford Pinchot, author of A Primer of Forestry, wrote in 1905: "Rain which falls over a bare slop acts differently. It is not caught by the crowns nor held by the flood, nor is its flow into the streams hindered by the timber and the fallen waste from the trees. It does not sink into the ground more than half as readily as in the forest, as experiments have shown. The result is that a great deal of water reaches the streams in a short time, which is the reason why floods occur."
Pinchot further explained, "It is therefore true that forests tend to prevent floods. But this good influence (of forests on floods) is important only when the forest covers a large part of the drainage basin of the stream. Even then the forest may not prevent floods altogether. The forest floor, which has more to do with the fallen rain water than any other part of the forest, can affect its flow only so long as it has not taken up all the water it can hold. That which falls after the forest floor is saturated runs into the streams almost as fast as it would over bare ground."
A 30-page booklet published the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that considerable quantities of rainfall (up to 35 percent) can be intercepted by the canopies of tropical forests and evaporated back into the atmosphere without contributing to soil water reserves. Much of the soil that does soak into the soil is used by the trees themselves.
Contrary to common belief, forests have only a limited influence on major downstream flooding, especially large-scale events. The FAO booklet informs, "During a major rainfall event (like those that result in massive flooding), especially after prolonged periods of preceding rainfall, the forest soil becomes saturated and water no longer filters into the soil but instead runs off along the soil surface."
Who should be held responsible for the rapid disappearance of the country’s forest cover? The surging population no less. The United Nations demographers projected in 2002 that the Philippine population would reach between 75 and 85 million. But the population overshot the high projection and now stands at about 90 million.
In the past, some government officials described the Philippines "as a rich country pretending to be poor." But reality bites. Today, about 40 percent of the total population are considered poor or those whose incomes fall below the threshold determined by the government, or those who cannot afford to provide in a sustained manner for their minimum basic needs for food, health, education, housing and other social amenities in life.
Being poor and due to the increasing number of children, more and more heads of the family have encroached the ecologically-fragile uplands. "Do you think we would be tilling this land if we are rich and have less mouth to feed?" a farmer pointed out.
These farmers have no choice but to cut the trees and plant crops. "Increasing cultivation on sloping lands using standard lowland farming techniques is leading to severe erosion," the World Bank report said.
More than half of the country’s total land area are uplands, which are mostly teemed with forests in the past. "Population pressure in the postwar period has led to a substantial increase of cultivation in upland areas," the World Bank report stated.
"The principal causes of deforestation in the Philippines are illegal logging, shifting cultivation (referring to kaingin farming), and forest fires, as well as conversion to agricultural lands and human settlements," the report added.
Rampant mining has also contributed to the disappearance of the forest cover. Miners have to cut the trees to get the gold and other precious metals out of the mountains. But again it boils down to population. "If there are less people, there would be few people who will buy those gold and other accessories," said a businessman who didn’t want to be identified. In other words, less demand means less mining.
"The way I look at the Philippine environment, forest and people today is that we really have a very damaged ecosystem," observed Delfin Ganapin, Jr., the global manager of the Global Environment Fund of the United Nations Development Program. "In fact, when I started doing forestry work, there was already quite significant damage in our forests. And that gets you to start thinking of what are the roots of the problem?"
"Some foresters think forestry is about trees," the FAO’s Jack Westoby wrote in 1967. "This is wrong. Forestry is about people. And it is about trees only insofar as they serve the needs of people."
