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State of the Philippine Environment

Center for Environmental Concerns Philippines

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Outline

1. Natural Resources

Biodiversity

Forest Resources

Agricultural resources Mineral Resources

Freshwater and Marine Resources

2.

The Philippine Environmental Crisis3. Peoples Struggle

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Greatest challengesFamine and hunger, rapidecological destruction,breakdown of healthsystems,social decayanddisintegration

Great and excitingadvances

Information technology,automation, geneticsand medicine

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Mans interaction with

nature

Resources for the production ofhis needs

Food, clothing, shelter

Tools, processes, technologies

Mans interaction with man

Relations with others

Dominance of a segment of societyover others

Current dominance of monopolycapital

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The Philippine Natural Resources

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Biodiversity

Identified as one of the worldsbiologically richest countries

Has among the highest rates of

discovery in the world. Highest number of endemicendangered species.

Terrestrial and marine areas

protected to total territorial area,percentage: 3.31 (2000)

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Mt. Makiling has more tree species than

the whole of USA.

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The country is one of the few nations thatis, in its entirety, both a hotspot and a

megadiversity country,

placing it among the top priority hotspotsfor global conservation.

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Source: Heaney, 2002

300,780

49%5581139Philippines

8,511,965

25%7883131Brazil

451,1716%25435Spain

Land Area (km2)% EndemicEndemic

SpeciesTotal species

COUNTRY

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Forest Resources

Total land area: 30,001,563 haTotal forest land: 15,847,009 ha

Total forest area: 7,162,000 ha% of land area: 24% (2005)

Primary forest cover: 829,000 ha% of land area: 2.8%% total forest area: 11.6%

Annual deforestation rate: 2.1%

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6%201023%198870%1900s

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Forest Cover in the Philippines

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

1400 1500 1900 1950 1990

Spanish colonization270,000 km2

American colonization210,000 km2

PhilippineIndependence150,000 km2

Post EDSA

Revolution8,000 km2

(400 years)

(50 years)

(40 years)

Deforestation

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Agricultural

Resources

13 million hectares or43% of total land areaare classified asagricultural lands

10.3 million hectares ofprime agricultural lands

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Land Monopoly

-1/3 of landlords in the country owns 80% ofagricultural lands;-of the agricultural areas nationwide about

51% is under tenancy, lease, and otherforms of tenurial arrangements-The most fertile lands are used bybusinesses while marginal lands arecultivated

7 out of 10 farmers do not have lands to till.

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Imports

Value of total agricultural imports: P342 billion

% agriculture in total imports:13.50%

Top agricultural imports: rice(25%),wheat and meslin (9%) ,milk andcream and products (8%)

Exports

Value of total agricultural exports: P173 B

% agriculture in total exports: 7.90% B

Top agricultural exports: coconut oil(27%), banana fresh (10%),tuna(10%), pineapple and products (7%)

From a rice exporter to a

rice net importer

Agricultural trade deficit: P 169 billion

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Mineral Resources

Considered to be 5th

mineralized country in the

world

3rd in Gold, 4th in Copper, 5thin Nickel, 6th in Chromitedeposits;

Has the potential to be among

the 10 largest mining powersof the world

Est. worth US$840B-US$1trillion

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Colonial Plunder ofMinerals

Spanish colonization- Conquer SSM communities

American colonization- L

aws = systematicexploitation- 1930s gold boom

Neocolonial puppetgovernments-Liberalization

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Mining Act of 1995

60 priority large-scale mining projectsmostly owned by foreign mining TNCs

Only 32 out of hundreds that areallowed have approved SocialDevelopment and ManagementPrograms

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LafayetteMiningInc.Rapu- Rapu,Albay, 2005

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Mining Ecological Destruction

Human Rights Violations Community Displacement

Threats to Health

Dubious Economic Gains

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Marine and Freshwater Resources

Philippines is richest inmarine biodiversity

Has the longestdiscontinuous coastline andone of the richest coral reefsin the world

Overflowing water resources

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Freshwater Resources

About 90% of the countrys freshwater resourcesdeemed available for human use;

BUT.. 2 out of 5 Filipinos (34%) do not get water from formalsources for domestic consumption

Lowest annual per capita availability of freshwater

Drinking water costly and privatized

Only 65% of Philippine households have access to potablewater

only 45% of the irrigable lands are irrigated

158 of 421 rivers unsafe for drinking

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Marine Resources

Around 2,500 fish species

Rich coral reefs, with 488out of 800 known speciesworldwide

Longest discontinuouscoastline worldwide

The Philippines is among thelargest fish producers in theworld

RPregarded as "Center of MarineBiodiversity" in the world, surpassing theGreat BarrierReef of Australia.

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M

arine ResourcesDepletion

Overfishing: 90% fish stocksdepleted in 50 years

Degradation of marineenvironment: only 4% of coralreefs in good condition

Monopoly control of fisheryresources

Open access policies

Privatization of municipalfisheries

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The Philippine EnvironmentalCrisis

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Air Pollution and Climate Change

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Coal Consumption

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Disasters in the Philippines

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Figure 6. Disaster Affected Population 2008, 2009.

Source: CDRC Database, 2009.

Figure 5. Number of Reported Disasters per Country in 2009

Source: CRED, 2010

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Philippine economy

Mainly extractive

Export-oriented

Dominated by TNCs, localelite

Dependent on foreigncapital and technologies

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Capitalism as root cause of crisis

Characteristics of capitalist

production

Production for profit

Anarchic

Wasteful and pollutive

Monopoly on production,resources, capital

Division of the world market, rawmaterials and war

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Role of International Finance

International finance capital

Stimulate production and sale ofconsumer goods

Cover debt service burden and

budgetary deficits

Developing countries forced to followrescriptions of the IMF and the WBwhich open up resources andmarkets

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Philippine Government

Large scale plunder of theenvironment without benefit tothe majority of our people

Government policies promotesNeoliberal Globalization

Biofuels Act

Oil deregulation law

Mining Act 1995

EPIRA

Forestry Code

Corruption

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Killings of Environmental Activists

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What must be done?

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Rich Natural Resource Base +Skilled Forces of Production

Potential for national industrialization, self-sufficiency, sovereignty, and prosperity.

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The struggle for the environment is a

struggle for the people.