by Jims Vincent Capuno
In 1980, there were already 48 million Filipinos, up from 21 million circa 1940. By 1990, the population was 61 million. Today, the Philippines is home to about 100 million people. But while population keeps growing, the land area they live and work on remains the same: 30 million hectares.
“We have limited, finite land resources,” said Dr. Elmer Mercado, former undersecretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). “Majority of these lands are now under deplorable conditions and unsustainable use.”
When Ferdinand Magellan “rediscovered” the Philippines in 1521, forests blanketed 95% of the country. At the time of the Ormoc City (Leyte) tragedy happened – which left 8,000 people dead – timber cover in the country was down to only 18%. A study by the World Wild Fund for Nature showed that more than an average of 119,000 hectares of forest cover disappear yearly.
World Bank, in an annual report, stated: “Of the country’s total forestland area of 15.88 million hectares, only 5.4 million hectares are covered with forests and fewer than a million hectares of these are left with old growth forests.
“Over-exploitation of forest resources and inappropriate land use practices,” the World Bank report added, “have disrupted the hydrological condition of watersheds, resulting in accelerated soil erosion, siltation of rivers and valuable reservoirs, increased incidence and severity of flooding, and decreasing supply of potable water.”
The Philippines is a one-stop-shop for disasters. You name it, the country has it: rampaging floods, violent typhoons, occasional earthquakes, volcano eruptions, killer landslides and pedictable droughts.
All these are bound to occur every now and then as the world periences climate change. The 2010 Climate Change Risk Index considered the Philippines as one of the 10 countries most exposed to impacts of climate change.
Hotspots! – Mapping Climate Change Vulnerability in Southeast Asia, identified the ten most vulnerable provinces as follows: Manila, Benguet, Batanes, Ilocos Sur, Rizal, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Abra, and Albay.
The 10 least vulnerable areas are Aklan, Basilan, Bohol, Iloilo, Capiz, North Cotabato, Davao del Norte, Siquijor, Eastern Samar, and Surigao del Sur.
Mercado, speaking before a group of journalists attending the learning sessions on land use planning, talked about managing the country’s land resources well. “Our land resources are limited,” he said.
“Land is life and life is land,” said Father Francis Lucas, chairman of the Asian NGO Coalition. “People depend on land for their welfare in the Philippines, thus effective management is essential to avoid cultural disputes that are now happening.”
Land issues have been passed in policy. “While there are already existing laws, like agrarian reform, protected areas, ancestral domain, fisheries, forestry, agricultural modernization, mining, housing and urban development, their coverage is limited to specific sectors,” said Susan Rachel Jose, director of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
Father Lucas agreed. The laws “are sectoral and fragmental in their approaches and do not cut across issues that would put emphasis on sustainability and equity,” he noted. “The presence of sectoral law means these are in conflict and are working against marginalized communities when landslides and typhoons strike.”
Despite several laws, the country’s limited land resources are not given much mportance as to their primary uses. For instance, industries and settlements are built within ecologically critical areas or prime agricultural lands. It is estimated that in the near future, only 0.15 hectares of 1,500 square kilometers of agricultural land will be supporting each Filipino.
Mining operations are oftentimes located in ancestral land, forest land, prime agricultural land and even fishing areas. “All areas of the Philippines are technically ‘available’ for mining,” said Dave de Vera, executive director of the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, Inc. To be continued
