The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has placed the country’s ecosystem and biodiversity values at P2.309 trillion, P1.416 trillion of which are from agricultural or crop production’s ecosystem service.
The Philippine ecosystem and biodiversity values take into account the ecosystem services that are not usually taken into consideration in the conduct of various development projects, often leading to their habitat destruction.
Highlighting the country’s rich biodiversity, the DENR, the agency mandated to manage the country’s natural wealth, kicked off on Monday a three-day event, dubbed First National Biodiversity Congress, at the Crowne Plaza in Ortigas, Pasig City, with the theme “Swelling of Lessons, Sustaining Community Benefits in the Conservation of Landscapes and Seascapes”.
Aside from crop production, other ecosystem services accounted for with their corresponding values are timber and fuel wood production, P1.1 billion; water provision, P50.9 billion; ecotourism, P157 billion; carbon offset, P453 billion; flood prevention, P41 billion; soil erosion, P10 billion; fishery production, P111 billion; coral reef, P62.1 billion; and mangrove, P7.4 billion.
These ecosystem and biodiversity values were a result of at least two years of studies initiated under the Bioidversity Financing Initiative (Biofin), a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-backed project in partnership with the DENR, Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) said.
The wealth accounting covers that of the country’s forest, coastal and marine, and inland water ecosystems.
The Philippines has 6.84 million hectares total forest cover as of 2010, or about 23 percent of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares.
A 2005 study revealed that the country has lost an average of about 150,000 hectares of forest cover every year over the last 100 years. Through the National Greening Program (NGP), the DENR’s Forest Management Bureau claimed to have increased the country’s forest cover by 1.7 million hectares by the end of 2016.
In 2012 the country’s external trade in all forest goods was pegged at P114.23 billion. The forestry sector, meanwhile, employs at least 49,000 people.
Forests help regulate the country’s water supply. Current groundwater deposits can supply up to 470 billion cubic meters to the country annually. This is 17 times the current volume of water being used in the entire country.
Forests provide ecosystem services estimated to have a total value of P15,115 per hectare.
The country’s coastal and marine resources, meanwhile, provides valuable ecosystem, as well. A square kilometer of healthy coral reefs can yield up to 30 tons of fish and earn between $29,400 to $113,000 tourism revenue per year.
Philippine reefs alone contribute approximately $1.35 billion to the national economy per year.
Mangrove forests, which protect coastal communities, also shelter juvenile fish and other marine life.
Currently, the Philippine seas are home to diverse species of wildlife, including five marine turtles, 28 marine mammals, 168 cartilaginous fishes, 648 mollusks, 1,755 reef-associated fishes, 1,062 seaseeds and 820 algae.
The country’s inland waters and wetlands are home to 316 fish species, 121 of which are found only in the Philippines. More than 13 million people live in the basin of Laguna de Bay alone, benefiting from the lake’s bounty.
Lake Lanao, the country’s second-largest freshwater lake, meanwhile, augments Mindanao’s power supply, through the Agus hydropower plants.
There are a total of 216 lakes, 421 principal rivers and 22 marshes in the Philippines.
Image credits: Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, Gutsy Tuason, and Bo Mancao.