TIMELINE: Losing, saving Philippine forests Here is a summary of how Philippine forests were managed (and plundered), from pre-colonial times to present. BY KAROL ILAGAN May 12, 2021 | 02:00:00 PM
Christian missionaries found paradise when they first set foot on the Philippine archipelago. They described forests extending from the shores to the mountaintops.
Lush forests covered 27.5 million hectares or more than 90% of the country’s total land area before the colonizers came. Population growth, various forms of land conversion, and the lack of a coherent forest policy shrunk the forests through the years.
Philippine forest cover dwindled to 15.8 million hectares during the last years of the American rule, and further down to 10.6 million hectares just before the declaration of Martial Law.