Deforestation worst where governance is weak, says data analyst
MANILA, Philippines — As public criticism grew over the cutting of trees along Quirino Avenue in Manila last week, an Inquirer analysis found that deforestation in the Philippines is “concentrated, persistent and often occurring where governance is weakest.”
Based on data from Global Forest Watch, the highest losses are clustered in a relatively small group of provinces led by Palawan, with 218,970 hectares lost, or 18.49% of its tree cover, and Agusan del Sur, with 133,013 hectares, or 17.12%.
READ: DENR defends tree-cutting activities tied to Palawan nickel project
They are followed by Tawi-Tawi, with 15,627 hectares, or 15.18%, and Zamboanga del Norte, with 67,659 hectares, or 14.96%.
Other provinces such as Apayao, with 47,188 hectares, or 13.45%; Zamboanga Sibugay, with 24,771 hectares, or 13.25%; and Davao Oriental, with 58,538 hectares, or 12.95%, point to the same concentration of loss.
Dr. Alicor Panao, an Inquirer data scientist, said these provinces share common traits: “They are frontier geographies, often in Mindanao or upland northern Luzon, where forests remain relatively abundant.”
“They also face governance constraints, including weak enforcement of land use rules, overlapping tenure systems and limited oversight by responsible government agencies,” he said.
Likewise, “economic pressures from logging, plantation expansion, mining and infrastructure development further strain already weak regulatory capacity.”
The result, he said, is sustained rather than episodic forest loss, suggesting that “governance failure is a central driver of deforestation risk.”
For Panao, the Quirino Avenue controversy reflects the same underlying pattern in a more visible setting.
“Mature trees were cut rather than properly relocated, while replacement is reduced to counting seedlings as if numerical targets can substitute for ecological value,” he said.
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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on May 20 said the cutting of trees with sprawling canopies that provided shade for years on Quirino Avenue was legally authorized and subject to strict environmental safeguards.
READ: DENR defends mass cutting of trees in Manila for road project
As of May 19, its public information division said 225 of the 617 trees approved for cutting had already been processed.
But last week, the DENR said tree-cutting operations on Quirino Avenue for the Southern Access Link Expressway project had been put on hold.
READ: DENR: Tree-cutting along Quirino Ave. voluntarily halted after protests
“Moving forward, perhaps it is time for the public to demand that the agency responsible provide transparent justifications for every single permit issued, and prove exactly how these clearances align with actual, long-term preservation,” Panao said.
“Citizens should no longer tolerate a regulatory system so completely devoid of accountability, where environmental oversight is reduced to a hollow, rubber-stamping exercise. Maybe the people should finally force those in power to answer for the damage,” he said. /dm
