The Philippines saw an increase in its forest coverage between 2015 and 2020, driven by growth in closed forests. The report also highlights changes in land use for other purposes such as urban development and agriculture.
The country’s open and closed forest areas totaled 6.91 million hectares as of 2020, or 23.4 percent of the total land area, reflecting a 2.9 percent increase, or 193,354 ha, from 6.72 million ha in 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. The nation’s total land area of 29,588,367 ha includes forests (closed, open, and mangrove), brush and shrubland, barren terrain, grasslands, wetlands, both perennial and annual crops, fishponds, urban areas, inland waters and marine zones.
The closed forest category saw an increase of 9.3 percent, adding 189,356 ha to its 2015 total of 2.03 million ha. The largest regional contributions came from Central Luzon (1.8 percentage points), Mimaropa or Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (1.4 percentage points) and Northern Mindanao (1.2 percentage points). Open forests, on the other hand, experienced a modest rise of 0.1 percent, growing by 3,998 ha from the previous 4.69 million ha in 2015. The built-up land area grew by 20.6 percent, expanding to 1.03 million ha from 850,249 ha in 2015. Central Luzon contributed 142,632 ha (13.9 percent), followed by Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with 138,919 ha (13.5 percent) and Central Visayas at 73,165 ha (7.1 percent). Perennial crops, which thrive for over two years without replanting, accounted for the largest land cover share at 6.57 million ha (22.2 percent of total land cover). The Eastern Visayas region had the highest share with 888,378 ha (13.5 percent), followed by Bicol at 775,380 ha (11.8 percent) and Davao with 753,409 ha (11.5 percent). The area dedicated to annual crops decreased by 2.84 percent, covering 5.94 million ha, down from 6.12 million ha in 2015. Cagayan Valley led with 898,050 ha (15.1 percent), followed by Western Visayas with 805,693 ha (13.6 percent) and Central Luzon with 640,336 ha (10.8 percent)
FORESTS LAND USE PHILIPPINES AGRICULTURE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
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