DEFORESTATION CONTRIBUTES TO PHILIPPINE FLOODING DISASTER
21 December 2003

Landslides caused by widespread flooding have killed 200 people in the central and southern Philippines. Massive deforestation is blamed for the floods. In 1991, over 8,000 people were killed by landslides and flooding in the same area. According to an American University case study, "Forest cover in the Philippines has decreased by 56 percent in the postwar period". Some estimate the Philippines will be the first country in the world to lose all of its native rainforest ecosystem.

The AU case study links the deforestation crisis to a regional economic trend in which "Approximately 70 percent of all tropical wood products on the global market after World War II originated in Southeast Asia; this proportion had risen to 83 percent by the mid 1980s". When forests are depleted, the absorption capacity of the soil is diminished, leading to an increased incidence of flooding. The runoff then contributes to land erosion, further imperiling local communities and agriculture.

• WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
• "Forest Gone", Manila Times Internet
• See also STI

STORY UPDATE » HISPANIOLA FLOODS EXACERBATED BY WORLD'S MOST EXTREME DEFORESTATION 26 May 2004 Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, also suffers from the most severe deforestation across its interior. Once steeped in near 80% forest cover, Haiti's current forested area has been reduced to roughly 6% of its territory.