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The logs arrive at the Sarmiento wood plant Davao in Mindanao island cover has gone down 64-18%
The Philippines. Timber logs arrive at the Sarmiento wood plant near Davao in Mindanao island. Forest cover in The islands has gone from 64 percent in 1920 to less than 18 percent today, making the hilly land vastly more prone to erosion, mudslides, and flash flooding. In 1983 this was one ofthe island' s legitimate wood plants. Forested land was about million hectares--more than percent of Philippine territory--and much of that was in higher elevations. The government eased the first decades by allocating the bulk of land as public forest land eligible for logging and by low export taxes. Logs were a major foreign-exchange earner. The Aquino administration also launched a reforestation program to replant 100,000 hectares per year, but it too met with limited success. In 1988, two years into the program, the government reforested 32,000 hectares and awarded reforestation contracts for another 4,500 hectares. President Gloria Arroyo said ' people are driven to logging by poverty, and with the population (84 million) expected to double in 50 years, some environs predict that primary forest cover could be effectively eliminated.
Size: 4127px × 4089px
Location: Davao, Philippines
Photo credit: © Tom Hanley / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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