Philippines - Overview

Status and trends of biodiversity, including benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services

The Philippines is one of 18 mega-biodiverse countries of the world, containing two-thirds of the earth’s biodiversity and between 70% and 80% of the world’s plant and animal species. The Philippines ranks fifth in the number of plant species and maintains 5% of the world’s flora. Species endemism is very high, covering at least 25 genera of plants and 49% of terrestrial wildlife, while the country ranks fourth in bird endemism... More »

Main pressures on and drivers of change to biodiversity (direct and indirect)

Threats to biodiversity differ from one ecosystem to another. In the forest ecosystem, the primary causes of forest loss are commercial exploitation and population growth (including lifestyle and consumption patterns) and the introduction of invasive alien species. Loss of biodiversity in the agricultural ecosystem is a direct consequence of habitat destruction via conversion of agricultural land to other uses; the possible negative impacts of biotechnology; natural calamities or extreme weather events associated with climate change; introduction of invasive alien species, pests and diseases; and inherent institutional problems of government agencies responsible for conserving agrobiodiversity... More »

Implementation of the NBSAP

The Philippines started formulating its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in 1994 with the formulation of the Philippine Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity (PSCBD). In 1995, the Philippines undertook an assessment of the country’s biodiversity through the UNEP-assisted Philippine Biodiversity Country Study... More »

Actions taken to achieve the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Among the major achievements toward the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets is the increase of the forest cover from 23.9% in 2003 to 52.6% of the total land area in 2006 (2007 MDG report), the extension of the terrestrial protected areas network from 8.5% in 1992 to 12.8% of the total land area in 2008 (2007 MDG report), along with 1,169 marine protected areas (in the form of reserves, sanctuaries and parks), and improvement in management effectiveness of these sites, which rose from 10-15% in 2000 to 20-30% in 2007... More »

Support mechanisms for national implementation (legislation, funding, capacity-building, coordination, mainstreaming, etc.)

Traditionally, sectoral approaches have been used in the Philippines to manage environmental and natural resources, which have led to separate governance mechanisms for different resource uses, and conflicts in management. In the 1990s, the watershed approach, integrated Ecosystem Approach, bay regional planning, integrated river basin and coastal zone management approach to development and management emerged for planning and addressing issues that cut across ecosystems... More »

Mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing implementation

Monitoring activities are led in relation to water quality, coral reefs cover (notably recording the impacts of climate change in the framework of the ICE CREAM project), and species conservation. Several biodiversity monitoring tools have been developed but sustaining the effort remains a challenge, especially after donor exit... More »