Editing Philippines (section)

=== Biodiversity ===
{{Main|Wildlife of the Philippines}}
{{See also|List of threatened species of the Philippines}}
[[File:Carabao.jpg|thumb|alt=Water buffalo with large, curved horns, seen from above|The [[carabao]] is the national animal of the Philippines. It symbolizes, strength, power, efficiency, perseverance and hard work.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippine Historical Association |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4C6AAAAIAAJ |title=Philippine Presidents: 100 Years |last2=New Day Publishers |publisher=[[Philippine Historical Association]] |year=1999 |location=Quezon City, Philippines |isbn=978-971-10-1027-0 |page=338 |access-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311174135/https://books.google.com/books?id=W4C6AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The Philippines is a [[megadiverse countries|megadiverse country]],<ref name="Berba-Matias-2022">{{cite journal |last1=Berba |first1=Carmela Maria P. |last2=Matias |first2=Ambrocio Melvin A. |title=State of biodiversity documentation in the Philippines: Metadata gaps, taxonomic biases, and spatial biases in the DNA barcode data of animal and plant taxa in the context of species occurrence data |journal=[[PeerJ]] |date=March 21, 2022 |volume=10 |doi=10.7717/peerj.13146 |pmid=35341040 |at=Introduction |pmc=8944339 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |last1=Williams |first1=Jann |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/theme-reports/biodiversity/biodiversity01-3.html |title=Biodiversity Theme Report: The Meaning, Significance and Implications of Biodiversity (continued) |last2=Read |first2=Cassia |last3=Norton |first3=Tony |last4=Dovers |first4=Steve |last5=Burgman |first5=Mark |last6=Proctor |first6=Wendy |last7=Anderson |first7=Heather |publisher=[[CSIRO]] on behalf of the Australian Government [[Department of the Environment and Heritage]] |year=2001 |location=Collingwood, Victoria, Australia |isbn=978-0-643-06749-3 |access-date=November 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514125559/http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/theme-reports/biodiversity/biodiversity01-3.html |archive-date=May 14, 2007 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> with some of the world's highest rates of discovery and [[List of ecoregions with high endemism|endemism]] (67 percent).<ref name="OECD-2017April">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6-gDgAAQBAJ |title=OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews Agricultural Policies in the Philippines |date=April 7, 2017 |publisher=[[OECD|OECD Publishing]] |location=Paris, France |isbn=978-92-64-26908-8 |doi=10.1787/9789264269088-en |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E6-gDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 78] |language=en |access-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509130815/https://books.google.com/books?id=E6-gDgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Earth]] |date=January 10, 2008 |title=Biological diversity in the Philippines |url=http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biological_diversity_in_the_Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218154050/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biological_diversity_in_the_Philippines |archive-date=February 18, 2008 |access-date=May 4, 2013 |editor-last1=McGinley |editor-first1=Mark}}</ref> With an [[Flora of the Philippines|estimated 13,500 plant species]] in the country (3,500 of which are endemic),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clemen-Pascual |first1=Lydia M. |last2=Macahig |first2=Rene Angelo S. |last3=Rojas |first3=Nina Rosario L. |title=Comparative toxicity, phytochemistry, and use of 53 Philippine medicinal plants |journal=Toxicology Reports |publisher=[[Elsevier|Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland]] |date=2022 |volume=9 |pages=22–35 |doi=10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.12.002 |pmid=34976744 |pmc=8685920 |issn=2214-7500 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022ToxR....9...22C}}</ref> Philippine rain forests have an array of flora:<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|date=February 18, 2014 |title=Hub of Life: Species Diversity in the Philippines |url=http://fpe.ph/biodiversity.html/view/hub-of-life-species-diversity-in-the-philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916011731/http://fpe.ph/biodiversity.html/view/hub-of-life-species-diversity-in-the-philippines |archive-date=September 16, 2015 |access-date=July 5, 2020 |publisher=Foundation for the Philippine Environment}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Taguinod |first=Fioro |date=November 20, 2008 |title=Rare flower species found only in northern Philippines |language=en |work=[[GMA News Online|GMANews.TV]] |url=http://www.gmanews.tv/story/134682/Rare-flower-species-found-only-in-northern-Philippines |access-date=February 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219210524/http://www.gmanews.tv/story/134682/Rare-flower-species-found-only-in-northern-Philippines |archive-date=February 19, 2009}}</ref> about 3,500 species of trees,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Schulte |editor-first1=Andreas |editor-last2=Schöne |editor-first2=Dieter Hans-Friedrich |title=Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems: Towards Sustainable Management |date=1996 |publisher=[[World Scientific]] |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-02-2729-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oHNzvs02F5wC&pg=PA494 494] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHNzvs02F5wC |language=en}}</ref> 8,000 [[flowering plant]] species, 1,100 [[fern]]s, and 998 [[List of the orchids of the Philippines|orchid]] species<ref>{{cite journal |last=Agoo |first=Esperanza Maribel G. |date=June 2007 |title=Status of Orchid Taxonomy Research in the Philippines |url=http://asbp.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/907-3032-2-PB.pdf |journal=Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology |publisher=Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines |volume=1 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407154939/https://asbp.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/907-3032-2-PB.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2020 |access-date=July 23, 2020}}</ref> have been identified.<ref name="Sajise-2010">{{cite book |editor-last1=Sajise |editor-first1=Percy E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=orX6zp38uwAC |title=Moving Forward: Southeast Asian Perspectives on Climate Change and Biodiversity |editor-last2=Ticsay |editor-first2=Mariliza V. |editor-last3=Saguiguit |editor-first3=Gil Jr. C. |date=February 10, 2010 |publisher=[[ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute|Institute of Southeast Asian Studies]] |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-230-978-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=orX6zp38uwAC&pg=PA147 147] |language=en |access-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-date=March 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306103904/https://books.google.com/books?id=orX6zp38uwAC |url-status=live}}</ref> The Philippines has 167 terrestrial [[mammal]]s (102 endemic species), 235 [[reptile]]s (160 endemic species), 99 [[amphibian]]s (74 endemic species), 686 [[List of birds of the Philippines|birds]] (224 endemic species),<ref>{{cite book |type=Conference proceeding |editor-last1=Nishizaki |editor-first1=Shin-ya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdCwDwAAQBAJ |title=Theory and Practice of Computation: Proceedings of the Workshop on Computation: Theory and Practice (WCTP 2018), September 17–18, 2018, Manila, The Philippines |editor-last2=Numao |editor-first2=Masayuki |editor-last3=Caro |editor-first3=Jaime |editor-last4=Suarez |editor-first4=Merlin Teodosia |date=2019 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, England |isbn=978-0-429-53694-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hdCwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 94] |language=en |access-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407131327/https://books.google.com/books?id=hdCwDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> and over 20,000 [[insect]] species.<ref name="Sajise-2010" />

As an important part of the [[Coral Triangle]] ecoregion,<ref>{{cite report |last1=Green |first1=Alison L. |last2=Mous |first2=Peter J. |title=Delineating the Coral Triangle, its Ecoregions and Functional Seascapes: Version 5.0 |series=TNC Coral Triangle Program |issue=Report No. 1/08 |url=https://www.conservationgateway.org/Documents/Green%20and%20Mous%202008%20CT%20Delineation%20v5%200.pdf |website=Conservation Gateway |publisher=[[The Nature Conservancy]] |access-date=May 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518123930/https://www.conservationgateway.org/Documents/Green%20and%20Mous%202008%20CT%20Delineation%20v5%200.pdf |archive-date=May 18, 2019 |pages=vii–viii, 1, 4, 6–7 |date=September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Leman |first=Jennifer |date=February 11, 2019 |title=What Is the Coral Triangle? |work=[[Live Science]] |url=https://www.livescience.com/64738-coral-triangle.html |access-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429190233/https://www.livescience.com/64738-coral-triangle.html |archive-date=April 29, 2020}}</ref> Philippine waters have unique, diverse marine life<ref name="CalAcademyOrg-2015">{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Bowling |first1=Haley |title=Over 100 New Marine Species Discovered in the Philippines |url=https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/over-100-new-marine-species-discovered-in-the-philippines |access-date=April 2, 2023 |work=[[California Academy of Sciences]] |date=July 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906071328/https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/over-100-new-marine-species-discovered-in-the-philippines |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |language=en}}</ref> and the world's greatest diversity of shore-fish species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Kent E. |last2=Springer |first2=Victor G. |name-list-style=amp |date=April 2005 |title=The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity: the Philippine Islands |journal=[[Environmental Biology of Fishes]] |publisher=[[Springer Netherlands]] |volume=74 |issue=2 |pages=467–480 |doi=10.1007/s10641-004-3154-4 |bibcode=2005EnvBF..72..467C |s2cid=8280012 |author-link1=Kent E. Carpenter |author-link2=Victor G. Springer}}</ref> The country has over 3,200 fish species (121 endemic).<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|last1=Ani |first1=Princess Alma B. |last2=Castillo |first2=Monica B. |date=March 18, 2020 |title=Revisiting the State of Philippine Biodiversity And The Legislation on Access and Benefit Sharing |url=https://ap.fftc.org.tw/article/1836 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114110925/https://ap.fftc.org.tw/article/1836 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |access-date=March 20, 2023 |website=FFTC Agricultural Policy Platform (FFTC-AP) |publisher=[[Food and Fertilizer Technology Center|Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region]] |at=The Philippine Biodiversity |language=en |location=Taipei}}</ref> Philippine waters sustain [[Aquaculture in the Philippines|the cultivation]] of fish, crustaceans, oysters, and seaweeds.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=National Aquaculture Sector Overview: Philippines |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_philippines/en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010173033/http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_philippines/en |archive-date=October 10, 2008 |access-date=August 17, 2020 |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=Rural Aquaculture in the Philippines |series=RAP Publication |issue=1999/20 |last1=Yap |first1=Wilfredo G. |date=1999 |at=Background |url=https://www.fao.org/3/x6943e/x6943e.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921005507/https://www.fao.org/3/x6943e/x6943e.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]]}}</ref>

Eight major types of forests are distributed throughout the Philippines: [[Dipterocarpaceae|dipterocarp]], [[beach]] forest,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Primavera |first1=J. H. |last2=Montilijao |first2=C. L. |title=Field Guide to Philippine Beach Forest Species |date=2017 |publisher=[[Zoological Society of London]] – CMRP Philippines |location=Iloilo City, Philippines |isbn=978-621-95325-1-8 |url=https://cms.zsl.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/12%20Field%20guide%20-%20Philippine%20Beach%20Forest%20Species.pdf |access-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225115902/https://cms.zsl.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/12%20Field%20guide%20-%20Philippine%20Beach%20Forest%20Species.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2023}}</ref> [[pine]] forest, [[Vitex parviflora|molave]] forest, [[Montane ecosystems|lower montane forest]], upper montane (or [[Cloud forest|mossy forest]]), [[mangrove]]s, and [[Ultramafic rock|ultrabasic]] forest.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wikramanayake |first1=Eric D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VGRBWqIG2gC |title=Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: A Conservation Assessment |last2=Dinerstein |first2=Eric |last3=Loucks |first3=Colby J. |date=2002 |publisher=[[Island Press]] |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-55963-923-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_VGRBWqIG2gC&pg=PA480 480] |author-link1=Eric Wikramanayake}}</ref> According to official estimates, the Philippines had {{convert|7000000|ha|sqmi}} of forest cover in 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Domingo |first1=Katrina |title=DENR targets to reforest 1 to 2 million hectares in PH |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/27/23/denr-targets-to-reforest-1-to-2-million-hectares-in-ph |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=[[ABS-CBN News]] |date=June 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627063837/https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/27/23/denr-targets-to-reforest-1-to-2-million-hectares-in-ph |archive-date=June 27, 2023}}</ref> Logging had been systemized during the American colonial period<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dauvergne |first1=Peter |title=Shadows in the Forest: Japan and the Politics of Timber in Southeast Asia |date=1997 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-262-54087-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyXMKFa7kCcC |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wyXMKFa7kCcC&pg=PA157 157] |access-date=August 30, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830215429/https://books.google.com/books?id=wyXMKFa7kCcC |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Deforestation in the Philippines|deforestation]] continued after independence, accelerating during the [[Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos|Marcos presidency]] due to unregulated logging concessions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kahl |first1=Colin H. |title=States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World |year=2006 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |location=Princeton, N.J. |isbn=978-0-691-12406-3 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ltWfu4quplgC&pg=PA85 85–86] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltWfu4quplgC |access-date=January 22, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830213647/https://books.google.com/books?id=ltWfu4quplgC |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=The Japan Environmental Council |title=The State of the Environment in Asia: 2002/2003 |date=December 6, 2012 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer Verlag]] |location=Tokyo, Japan |isbn=978-4-431-70345-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPGPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 106–107] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPGPBAAAQBAJ |access-date=January 22, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830213647/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPGPBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Forest cover declined from 70 percent of the Philippines' total land area in 1900 to about 18.3 percent in 1999.<ref name="FAO-Forests">{{cite report |type=Conference proceeding |last=Peralta |first=Eleno O. |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/af349e/af349e0n.htm |title=Proceedings of the workshop: Forests for Poverty Reduction: Changing Role for Research, Development and Training Institutions, 17–18 June 2003, Dehradun, India |series=RAP Publication |issue=2005/19 |date=2005 |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]], Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific |isbn=978-974-7946-76-5 |location=Bangkok, Thailand |chapter=Chapter 21: Forests for poverty alleviation: the response of academic institutions in the Philippines |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018084729/http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/af349e/af349e0n.htm |archive-date=October 18, 2007 |editor-last1=Sim |editor-first1=H. C. |editor-last2=Appanah |editor-first2=S. |editor-last3=Hooda |editor-first3=N.}}</ref> Rehabilitation efforts have had marginal success.<ref>{{cite report |date=December 2019 |title=National Greening Program (PAO-2019-01); Reforestation Remains an Urgent Concern but Fast-Tracking its Process Without Adequate Preparation and Support by and Among Stakeholders Led to Waste of Resources |url=https://www.intosai.org/fileadmin/downloads/focus_areas/SDG_atlas_reports/Philippines/Philippines_2019_E_15_FuRep_NGP.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502140810/https://www.intosai.org/fileadmin/downloads/focus_areas/SDG_atlas_reports/Philippines/Philippines_2019_E_15_FuRep_NGP.pdf |archive-date=May 2, 2021 |access-date=February 22, 2023 |publisher=[[Commission on Audit (Philippines)|Commission on Audit]] |page=26}}</ref>

The Philippines is a [[biodiversity hotspot|priority hotspot for biodiversity conservation]];<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=Philippines |url=https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots/philippines |publisher=[[Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund]] |access-date=April 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205015021/https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots/philippines |archive-date=February 5, 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Berba-Matias-2022" /> it has [[List of protected areas of the Philippines|more than 200 protected areas]],<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=Establishment and Management of National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) (as of October 31, 2011) |url=http://www.pawb.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:establishing-and-managing-protected-areas&catid=58:protected-area-management |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201105841/http://www.pawb.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:establishing-and-managing-protected-areas&catid=58:protected-area-management |archive-date=December 1, 2011 |access-date=February 22, 2023 |publisher=[[Department of Environment and Natural Resources|Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau]]}}</ref> which was expanded to {{convert|7790000|ha|sqmi}} {{as of|2023|lc=y}}.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=List of Protected Areas |url=https://bmb.gov.ph/index.php/list-of-protected-areas |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230222202956/https://bmb.gov.ph/index.php/list-of-protected-areas |archive-date=February 22, 2023 |access-date=February 22, 2023 |publisher=[[Department of Environment and Natural Resources|Biodiversity Management Bureau]]}}</ref> [[List of World Heritage Sites in the Philippines|Three sites]] in the Philippines have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List: the [[Tubbataha Reef]] in the Sulu Sea,<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/653/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210154057/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/653/ |archive-date=February 10, 2006 |access-date=August 17, 2020 |publisher=[[UNESCO World Heritage Centre]]}}</ref> the [[Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park|Puerto Princesa Subterranean River]],<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/652 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051119122807/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/652 |archive-date=November 19, 2005 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |publisher=[[UNESCO World Heritage Centre]]}}</ref> and the [[Mount Hamiguitan]] Wildlife Sanctuary.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|title=Philippines – UNESCO World Heritage Convention |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223081604/https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ph |archive-date=February 23, 2023 |access-date=March 3, 2023 |publisher=[[UNESCO World Heritage Centre]] |language=en}}</ref>