1. Logging and Forest Exploitation
Decades of commercial and illegal logging have stripped indigenous forests of old-growth trees, reducing species richness and destabilizing local ecosystems. Logging alters hydrological cycles and nutrient distribution, triggering long-term degradation.
Example: The Sierra Madre mountain range has suffered deforestation from both legal concessions and illegal logging operations, affecting endemic species like the Philippine eagle.
2. Unsustainable Upland Farming
Traditional slash-and-burn (kaingin) agriculture allowed recovery through rotation and rest. However, increased migration into upland areas led to overuse, reduced fallow periods, and soil exhaustion.
Example: The Cordillera region faces challenges from intensified kaingin due to population pressure, threatening native pine forests and soil biodiversity.
3. Unregulated Hunting
Hunting for subsistence, sport, or training, when unmonitored, depletes animal populations and disrupts ecological balance. Key species lose their roles in seed dispersal, pollination, and predator-prey relationships.
Example: In Palawan, hunting has impacted the population of the Palawan bearded pig and pangolin, both vital to forest regeneration.
4. Destructive Fishing Practices
Aquatic ecosystems suffer from overfishing and harmful techniques such as blast fishing and cyanide use. These destroy coral reefs, breeding grounds, and juvenile populations.
Example: In coastal Mindanao, coral damage from illegal fishing has led to reduced fish catch and loss of marine biodiversity.
5. Forest Fires
High temperatures and human negligence can spark fires, consuming vast areas of forest and harming flora, fauna, and traditional lands.
Example: Fires in Mt. Kalatungan, Bukidnon have affected ancestral territories and forest-dependent wildlife like the Philippine warty pig.
6. Improper Grazing
Free-range livestock grazing in forest edges or community grasslands can trample vegetation, cause erosion, and introduce invasive plant species.
Example: Grazing near Mt. Apo has led to the degradation of critical habitats used by indigenous groups for medicinal and cultural plants.
7. Land Conversion and Urban Expansion
Expanding residential zones into forested regions fragments habitats and displaces indigenous species. This also disconnects indigenous communities from their ecological and cultural landscapes.
Example: Encroachment into ancestral domains in Northern Mindanao has limited access to traditional lands and endangered species such as the flying lemur (kagwang).