Contribution of Forestry to Poverty Alleviation - APFNet

Table IX.1. Philippine forest cover and estimated population
Year Forest cover (million ha)* % of total area Population**
1575 27.5 91.67 160,000
1863 20.9 69.67 4,452,544
1920 18.9 63.00 10,855,833
1934 17.8 59.33 14,646,495
1970 10.9 36.33 36,684,486
1980 7.4 24.67 48.098.460
1990 6.7 22.33 60,703,206
2005 7.2 24.00 87,857,470
Note: * RMPFD 2003, 2005 Forest cover data based on PFS 2006.
** NSCB 2010. 1575 data estimated from different sources.
Following the colonization of the country by the United States in 1898, the American Congress enacted
the first Forest Act in 1904 (Chandrasekhran 2003) that was to form the basis of forestry laws until
1975. The Bureau of Forestry was established during this period, and the mechanization of logging
was introduced. The tenure system where private entities leased forests and operated forest businesses
started with a systematic assessment and recording of forest resources. In 1934, a national forestry map
was drawn when the country had around 17.8 ha of forests (Bureau of Forestry 1934) and the population
was around 15 million people.
Estimates of deforestation rate over the years vary. Between 1948 and 1957, a loss of around 221,300 ha
of forests per year was recorded at a rate of 1.56% annual loss (Kummer and Turner 1992). The National
Economic Council estimated the forest loss between 1957 and 1969 at 226,200 ha per year or a 1.91%
annual rate. As also reported by Kummer and Turner, later estimates from the Forest Management
Bureau (FMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed a 2.14%
decrease in forest cover between 1969 and 1976. Other estimates by the Forestry Development Center
(FDC) between 1980 and 1987 showed a loss of 157,000 ha annually at 2.17%. In a World Bank study,
Carandang (2008) estimated that the country lost around 7.9 million ha of forests between 1935 and
2003 (Figure IX.1). One of the major reasons cited is the conversion of logged over areas into other
land uses.
In 1996, Philippine forest statistics showed the lowest forest cover at 5.6 million ha. In 2003, the official
forestry statistics gave a higher estimate of around 7.2 million ha of forests. Forest cover in the country
increased with the new international definition of forest adopted from the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO). This increase is also attributed to natural regeneration and plantings, in both
public and private lands and the addition of the category of other wooded lands, indicating that trees are
growing on lands previously under pasture, grasslands, and agriculture, either by natural regeneration
or planting. Ninety-one percent (91%) of this forest is in public forestlands while 9% is in alienable or
disposable (A&D) lands.
Figure IX.1. Forest conversion (1935-2003)
44%
9%
47%
Total Area Converted = 7,855,000 ha
Second growth subsequently
converted to other land uses
Directly converted without logging
Permanent damage due to logging
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