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Philippine Biodiversity The Philippines is a place of immense beauty embracing majestic volcanic mountains and forests, magnificent waterfalls, rivers and fertile lands that produce a wide variety of crops including rice, corn, tobacco, and sugar cane. The country is fringed by extensive coral reefs, and held fast by deep blue waters that sustain extensive coastal and pelagic marine life. Among all these wonders is the Banaue Rice Terraces. The terraces are a vast staircase canvass that stretch well beyond what any one pair of eyes can see. This is a feat of engineering so substantial that some call the terraces the eighth wonder of the world, the only man-made wonder which was literally sculpted from the earth The terraces were originally built more than 2,000 years’ ago by the Batad, the natives of Banaue in the Mountain Province. Built by the Batad’s bare hands, one stone at a time, to increase the area of their farms, they carved gigantic rice terraces horizontally along the slope of mountains. Although, because of soil erosion, they are no longer quite as majestic as they were thirty years ago, they are still productive. The rice terraces rise from the valley floor to heights of up to 3,000 feet. Banaue, one of the provinces in the northern part of the Philippines is about 4,000 feet above sea level. This mountainous province is famous for hand made products. The high degree of topographic diversity along with the varied geology of the different areas of the Philippines result in an exceptionally rich tropical environment. The Philippines is placed in the top 5 of the world’s most bio-diverse areas! The world’s biologically wealthiest nations include Australia, Brazil, China, Columbia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, South Africa, the United States of America, Venezuela, and the Philippines. The complex geological foundations of the Philippine islands originate within the Pacific Ocean, and date back some 30 to 50 million years. The islands stretch over 1,800 kilometers from north to south with its widest point reaching to 1,100 kilometers. There are 17 active volcanoes in the country that recall the country’s violent geological history. There are five major areas where the Philippine archipelago supports its own wealth of endemic plants, mammals, amphibians, butterflies and birds, each of which is geographically isolated from the others. These areas are Luzon, Greater Mindanao, Greater Mindoro, Greater Sulu and Greater Palawan. There are twelve areas of extreme plant diversity and endemism which are Mount Apo (Mindanao), Mount Kitanglad (Mindanao), Mount Pulog (Luzon), the Palanan Wilderness (Luzon), Palawan, Sibuyan Island, Romblon Island, Southern Samar Island, Mount Baloy (Central Panay Island), Mount Isarog (Camarines Sur Province), Mount Talinas, Lake Balinsasayao, Mount Makiling, and Mount Banahaw. Bird Life International recognizes 9 significant bird centers in the Philippines, which is very impressive for such a small country. They are Luzon Mountains, Luzon lowlands and foothills, Mindoro, Negros and Panay, Cebu, Palawan, Samar, Leyte and Bohol, the Mindanao lowlands and the Sulu archipelago. The biodiversity of the islands of the Philippines is outstanding when compared globally. The country’s endemic species by group such as butterflies, tiger beetles, reptiles, birds, mammals and plants is almost always richer than the much larger mega-diverse countries. When measured per unit of area, the biodiversity found in the Philippines is very impressive. There are 895 species of butterflies in the Philippines! Out of these, 352 are endemic making it the 2nd highest richest domain for endemic butterflies in the world next to Indonesia. Swallow butterflies in the Philippine island nation consist of 49 species, of which 21 are endemic, again second only to Indonesia in number of endemic species. Tiger beetles in the Philippine tropical islands ranks 11th in the global diversity list with 94 species, and with the Philippines as the smallest country in the top 12. Seventy four species are endemic making the country 5th in the world in tiger beetle endemism. There are 201 mammal species in the Philippines; 180 terrestrial and 21 marine mammals. Of these numbers, 116 are endemic placing the country 5th in the world in mammal specie endemism. The Philippine archipelago also ranks 8th in the world in reptile diversity, with 193 species; 131 species of which are endemic. Bird diversity is 4th in global terms, with 556 species, 183 species of which are endemic. The Philippines has 63 species of amphibians and 44 of these are endemic. Considering the small size of the country, these islands are very high in fresh water fish diversity supporting over 330 species. As far as non-fish vertebrates are concerned the Philippines ranks 8th in the world with the total number of endemic species at 474. The number of species of plants in this tiny tropical country is estimated at 10,000 to 12,000, 50% of which are endemic! There are 157 species of palms, 109 are endemic. The coastline of the Philippines is as long as the United States and, with its great tropical conditions, the marine life is also very abundant. The total coastal marine diversity in the Philippines ranks among the top 3 in global terms along with Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. But the diversity of coral species in the Philippines is believed to be the highest in the world! Considering the Philippines has such a relatively small land mass these figures are truly impressive. But mankind today does not hold the same respect for this country’s natural endowment and wealthy natural legacy as it did before. Previous generations respected and protected this heritage. Today’s generations do not. Unfortunately some of these same rare species are now also among the most endangered in the world. Our modern economy is not managed in the interests of biodiversity. Rather the modern economy is managed for greed and corruption. As political systems have been corrupted for personal economic gain so has inequality and poverty resulted. With seventy seven million people also trying to eek out an existence in this small and poor country, the depletion of natural resources has occurred largely unabated. Experts believe that the Philippines now confronts a very serious biological calamity and that it will soon become the world’s first crisis country witnessing major extinctions. The natural environment of the Philippines has been and is being eroded by human activity and by human inactivity, by the urgency of poverty and the greed and impotence of political leadership. Bad political systems have created the inequalities and poverty of the Philippines and over population has reinforced the urgency to mine rather than nurture this heritage. What is it about mankind that destroys the very basis for its survival? What should we all do? Until we all, again, honor nature to honor our gods, we will all suffer loss. Mother earth is dying.
Marlene Aguilar |
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