El Nino, climate change and Philippine forests: opportunities for mitigation

The paper analyzes landuse change in the Philippines during three periods: the past (1500s to 1990s), the present, and the future (up to 2015). From the 1500s to the present, the Philippines lost about 21.3 M ha. of tropical forests. This is equivalent to 3.7 billion tons of C released to the atmosphere. More than 70 percent of these (2.7 billion tons) were released in this century alone. At present, there are 15.88 m ha. classified as forest lands in the Philippines. The six major land uses are: old-growth/protected forests, second growth forests, brushlands, grasslands, tree plantations and agroforestry farms. In general, 2.70 M ha of old-growth forests contain 307 M tons of C and sequester 4.1 M tons annually. Second-growth production forests (3.40 M ha) harbor 298 million tons of C and captures 0.4 M tons C a year. Harvesting and deforestation are the main pathways of C loss. Brushlands (2.30 M ha.) store 81 M tons C and sequester 6.4 M tons C/yr. Grassland areas (1.18 M ha.) contain 54 M ton C and sequester no C because of burning. Tree plantations cover 0.6 M ha. which contain 25 M tons of C and sequester about 2.6 M tons C annually. Agroforestry farms (5.7 M ha.) contain 13 M tons of C and sequester 13.7 M tons C per year. The total C budget of Philippine forests revealed that they are able to sequester about 78 percent of total CO2 emissions of the country per annum. Future landuse changes in the Philippines are presented based on the Philippine Forestry Master Plan (1990-2015). By the year 2015, it is estimated that forest lands would store 775 M tons C and could sequester 31.8 M tons C/yr. The last part of the paper presents policy recommendations and possible courses of action by government and private entities to maximize the role of forest lands in the mitigation of climate change