Forest Management

Jungle / Gubat

Forest Management / Pamamahala ng Kagubatan

Not long before the modern man has urbanized with unprecedented speed forests had abundantly covered our globe wherever the climate allowed. Forest was an ecosystem with a magnitude of flora and fauna. Indigenous people lived in co-existence with forests and their richness. Increasing populations and growing voracious hunger for forest resources have entirely changed forests and their wildlife in much of the world. Jungle in its virgin form has shrunk to a poor imitation of its former grandeur. Although there are areas where forests are growing again due to mainly man-made reforestation, notably so in China, in other parts of the world, woodlands still shrink or have so until very recently.

Scientists estimate that many Philippine rainforests developed roughly 25–35 million years ago, during the Oligocene and Miocene periods. Even though they are younger than some other jungles, Philippine rainforests are considered one of the most biologically important and richest jungle systems in the world.

Much rainforest was cleared in the 70 and 80s, only little primary forest remains. This over-exploitation took its tall. Much biodiversity has been badly jeopardized. That’s why we need to do all in our means to protect still existing habitat and rejuvenate fallow land with new forests.

Voracious logging in the 70 + 80s – Dipterocarp tree

Virgin primary forest there is only little left. A fraction in the Subic Bay, some in Palawan and a few sites in very hard-to-reach mountains and ravines over the archipelago. As a consequence, secondary and tertiary forests have mainly replaced the ancient abundance with bushes and grassland. Torrential rain during the typhoon season from June – December is no longer kept back by the rain forest. Water masses shoot down to the sea clearing much soil and gravel in the Big Blue suffocating coral riffs and much sea life there.

Mindoro Occidental