The Environment and Natural Resources

What is the state of the Philippine environment, and what are the links between environment and development in the Philippine setting? In this chapter we first review the available data on environmental quality and natural resource degradation in the Philippines. We consider trends over time and compare the Philippine case with those of its Asian regional neighbors. Second, we present a brief review of theoretical links between environmental quality, resource depletion, and development strategies and outcomes, and consider the Philippine data in light of this theory. Third, we discuss recent economic trends and policy initiatives having a bearing on environment and development, and present some simulation results indicating likely trends in economic and environmental variables under alternative policy regimes. Finally, we ask what past experience and current trends might indicate for the future of the Philippine environment. The “environment” can only be discussed meaningfully in terms of its component parts. As identified in official Philippine documents, these include natural resource stocks such as forests, minerals, water, biodiversity, and soils, as well as air and water quality in specific locations and at specific times. Since these categories are sometimes difficult to identify separately, it is convenient to group them as a set of ecosystems—forest and uplands, lowland agriculture, urban-industrial, coastal/marine, freshwater—and a set of resources (that are of course components of ecosystems): forests, fisheries, soils, minerals, and biodiversity. We examine the data and some analytical evidence on each of these, but concentrate in the second half of the chapter on some case studies of specific ecosystem and natural resource issues.