Philippines

Lawrence Heaney⁵⁰, Perry Ong⁵³, Romeo Trono⁵⁴, Leonard Co⁵⁴ and Thomas Brooks²

The Philippines is one of the few nations that is, in its entirety, both a hotspot and a megadiversity country. The Philippines is made up of more than 7 100 islands (of which 700 are inhabited by humans), covers 297 179 km², and lies entirely in the tropics, between 5°N and 21°N. The archipelago stretches over 1 810 km from north to south, and measures 1 104 km at its widest point. Northern Luzon is only 241 km from Taiwan (with which it shares some floristic affinities), and the islands off southwestern Palawan are only 40 km from Malaysian Borneo. Palawan, which is separated from Borneo by a channel some 145 m deep, has floristic affinities with both the Philippines and Borneo in the Sundaland Hotspot, and strong faunal affinities with the Sunda Shelf (Esselstyn et al., in press), but is here included within the Philippines Hotspot.

The archipelago is formed from a series of isolated fragments that have long and complex geological histories, some dating back 30–50 million years. With at least 17 active volcanoes, these islands are part of the “Ring of Fire” of the Pacific Basin, extending from Indonesia to Japan and eastern Russia, and around the western edge of both American continents.

Until fairly recently, almost the entire area of the Philippines (94%) was covered by some form of rainforest. Trees of the family Dipterocarpaceae were diverse (at least 45 species), with this dipterocarpdominated forest covering most of the islands from sea level to about 1 000 m. Above these elevations, lowland forest grades into montane forest, dominated by oaks, laurels, and ericaceous plants. Above 1 000 m, the forest undergoes a dramatic change, with a rise in rainfall (to as high as 12 000 mm per year), cooler temperatures, an increase in steepness of the terrain and, at the highest elevations, a dense moss cover and a number of distinct taxa. It is in this habitat that levels of endemism are the highest, at least proportionately; all 16 of the bird species endemic to Mindanao are present in mossy forest on Mt. Kitanglad. The montane forests (which originally covered only about 10%–12% of the country), have limited economic value and so have not been as heavily exploited as the lowland forest; the montane forests now represent about half of the primary forest remaining in the Philippines.

The patchwork of isolated islands, the tropical location of the country, and the formerly extensive areas of rainforest have resulted in high species diversity in certain groups of organisms and a very high level of endemism. There are five major and at least five minor centers of endemism, ranging in size from Luzon, the largest island at 103 000 km² which, for example, has at least 31 endemic species of mammals, to Sibuyan Island (445 km²) with four endemic mammals, to tiny Camiguin Island, a 265-km2 speck of land north of Mindanao, which has at least two species of endemic mammals.

There is some uncertainty as to the number of seed plant species in the Philippines. The “classic” compilation (Merrill 1923–1926) recognized 7 620 indigenous species in 1 308 genera and 194 families, and 5 832 species (76.5%) as endemic. By way of synonymy and the addition of newly described taxa through the Flora Malesiana Project (1948-present), a revised estimate is in the order of around 8 000 species of flowering plants or angiosperms, 33 species of gymnosperms, and 1 100 species of ferns and allies (see Fernando et al. 2003) This approximates the estimate of plant diversity made earlier by Ashton (1997). Endemic species total a minimum of 6 091, comprising 5 800 angiosperms, 6 gymnosperms, and 285 ferns and allies. No families are endemic, although certain families (such as the Orchidaceae, the largest family of flowering plants in the hotspot) reach very high levels of species endemism, and only 26 genera are endemic (22 of them represented by single species; Fernando et al. 2003), indicating that endemism in this hotspot is mainly at the species level.

There are at least 167 native terrestrial mammal species in the Philippines, of which at least 102 are endemic, one of the highest levels of mammal endemism in any hotspot. The largest and most impressive of the mammal species in the Philippines, and indeed a flagship for the hotspot, is the tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis, CR), the dwarf water buffalo of Mindoro Island now thought to number only a few hundred. Other flagship Philippine endemics include the Visayan spotted deer (Rusa alfredi, EN), now reduced to only a few hundred individuals on the islands of Masbate, Negros, and Panay (and thought to be extinct on Cebu and Guimaras); the golden-capped fruit bat (Acerodon jubatus, EN), probably the heaviest bat in the world, weighing up to 1.2 kg; and the rodents, of which 15 new species have been discovered in the last ten years, and including the spectacular adaptive radiation of giant cloud rats. Importantly, at least one species of mammal thought to be extinct in the Philippines, the Negros nakedbacked fruit bat (Dobsonia chapmani), has recently been rediscovered on Cebu and Negros islands. Mammal endemism is also very high at the generic level; of the 85 genera of mammals in the Philippines, 23 are endemic.

Bird diversity is moderate at 535 regularly occurring species, but endemism is very high at 185; among individual islands, Luzon has the largest numbers of single-island endemics, and is one of seven Endemic Bird Areas recognized by BirdLife International that fall within the Philippines Hotspot (Stattersfield et al. 1998). The most famous of all bird species is the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jeffreyi, CR), the second largest eagle in the world, and which has been severely affected by habitat loss such that it only survives on Luzon, Mindanao, and Samar, where the largest tracts of forest remain. Other particularly endemic-rich taxa include pigeons, kingfishers, hornbills, babblers, sunbirds, and flowerpeckers. The only endemic family in the Philippines is the Rhabdornithidae, represented by the Philippine creepers (Rhabdornis spp.).

Reptile diversity is quite high at 235 species, with some 160 species and six genera endemic; one of these (Myersophis) has a single species of snake (M. alpestris) from Luzon. Among these, an important flagship is the Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis, CR), considered to be the most threatened of all crocodiles, having been reduced to only 100 animals in 1993. Amphibians are moderately diverse with 99 species, of which 74 are endemic. These totals are increasing rapidly with the continuing description of the Philippine herpetofauna (Brown et al. 2001).

The hotspot has a moderate-sized inland fish fauna, with 281 native species in 49 families. Although lakes are usually uncommon on islands, the high level of geological activity in the Philippines has produced a large number of lakes, many of which are landlocked. The development of lacustrine environments is associated with endemism and, apparently, with the evolution of several notable species flocks. The hotspot has nine endemic genera of inland fishes and at least 67 endemic species, many of which are restricted to single lakes. One such species is Sardinella tawilis, a freshwater sardine found only in Taal Lake.

Among invertebrates, insects are the most speciose group, with a current count of 20 942 species and an overall endemicity of 69.8%, in 6 185 genera and 499 families (Gapud 2002). There are 132 species of tiger beetles in the Philippines, of which 113 species occur nowhere else (D. Pearson, pers. comm.), while butterflies are estimated to number some 915 species, of which 362 are endemic (Treadaway 1995; Danielsen and Treadaway 2004).

Besides its remarkable endemism, the Philippines, unfortunately, is also the world leader in terms of threat, with about 6%–7% of the original old-growth, closed-canopy forest remaining, and far less than that, probably on the order of 3%, estimated to remain in the lowland regions (Environmental Science for Social Change 1999). Thus, lowland rainforests are the most threatened forest type. A further 14% of the country remains as second-growth forest in various stages of degradation, but still capable of regeneration if left alone. Unquestionably, the most damaging practice has been the extensive commercial logging (both legal and illegal) that has taken place in the past. As late as 1945, as much as 60%–65% of the Philippines was covered by old-growth forest, but the rate of logging accelerated quickly after World War II, with old-growth forest cover dropping to 55% in 1950, 30% by about 1975, and 20% by 1988. Recently, lumber exports have declined drastically (by 90% in the last 20 years), but this is principally because there is virtually nothing left to export. However, the prospect of a major increase in mining is now an imminent threat. In 1997, regions where mining applications took place covered over 25% of the land area of the country, and included over 50% of the remaining primary forest.

Currently, around 11% of the total land area of the Philippines is under some form of protection; however, when one considers only protected areas in IUCN categories I to IV, this figure drops to 6%. Indeed, in the late 1980s, the Haribon Foundation, the country's foremost conservation NGO, stated that none of the protected areas currently in existence met international standards for protection and management. An IUCN report from 1988 estimated that two-thirds of the parks contained human settlements, and 27% of their cumulative area was covered by disturbed habitat or agriculture. In 1992, the government established a National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) throughout the country. To assist in the implementation of this law, a U.S. $20-million grant was provided by the Global Environment Facility/World Bank for the Conservation of Priority Protected Areas Project (CPPAP), which focused on improving management and protection in 10 top priority protected areas. One of the ten sites selected was the Palanan Wilderness Area on the island of Luzon. At 3 500 km2, the national park that has been established there is by far the largest in the country, and covers perhaps 7% of the remaining primary rainforest of the Philippines.

A strong focus on creating effective national protected areas is the best hope for those few remaining extensive tracts of forest in the Philippines, for example, in the Northern Sierra Madre mountains and Central Cordillera of northern Luzon, on Palawan, and in the Kitanglad Range of Mindanao, and on some smaller, but endemic-rich islands such as Sibuyan and Camiguin. Meanwhile, local and community protected area mechanisms are desperately needed to conserve the last fragments of habitat in the endemic-rich, but heavily populated, Visayan Islands (Cebu, Negros, and Panay), Mindoro, and Tawi-Tawi. In addition, biodiversity research studies, steps to halt all commercial logging in remaining natural forest (and to allow secondary forest to regenerate into mature native forest), effective cooperation with local communities, and programs that prevent subsistence farmers from moving into forest, whether primary or partially logged, are crucial.

In 2000, a national conservation priority setting exercise was undertaken that involved more than 300 natural and social scientists from more than 100 local and international institutions representing major stakeholders spanning academia, government, civil society, the donor community, and the private sector. This exercise led to the identification of 206 conservation priority areas, of which 170 are terrestrial and inland waters and 36 are marine areas (Ong et al. 2002). Of these, only 53 priority areas have some form of protection because of their inclusion under the NIPAS, another 57 priority areas are being processed for inclusion under NIPAS, and 96 priority areas have no legal protection as they are outside the NIPAS. Of the 53 priority areas that are under NIPAS, their boundaries need to be redrawn as most of them include highly degraded areas and exclude areas of high biodiversity importance (Ong 2002). The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is investing $7 million in three key conservation corridors identified in the priority-setting process, as well as in key sites for threatened species that fall outside those corridors. The corridor conservation effort in the Sierra Madre region on Luzon has led to a significant extension of one protected area and the formation of another, both of which will contribute to connecting the series of protected areas that run from the island's northeastern tip to the watershed of Metro Manila.

In conclusion, since the Philippines has one of the densest and most rapidly expanding human populations in Asia, its need for economic and social reform that will alleviate the causes of poverty is even more closely tied to biodiversity conservation than is usually the case. If ever there was a time and place for immediate and effective conservation action, it is now in the Philippines. There is still time to stave off disaster, but rapid action in this unique and troubled hotspot is needed now. As an offshoot of the 2000 priority-setting exercise and the lessons learned from conservation initiatives of the 1990s, new trends of working together emerged, some of which include the Network for Nature concept that aims to bring together stakeholders at the local, regional, and national levels from a wide spectrum of society so as to conserve the biodiversity of the hottest of the hotspots. Indeed, there is still hope to save the Philippines Hotspot from being the first country in the world to experience mass species extinction spasms and environmental collapse.

< previous section  < index >  next section >