BIODIVERSIT

Y
Biodiversity is the variety of plants and animals and other
living things in a particular area or region.

It also refers to the number/abundance of different species

living within a particular region.
 • We are part of the web of
So… life.
• Every species plays a
Why is vital role in the circle of
Biodiversity life.
Important? • Each species interact and
depend upon one another.
“It is reckless to suppose
that biodiversity can be
diminished indefinitely
without threatening
humanity itself.”

-Edward O. Wilson
(Father of Biodiversity)
 Categorizing Value
Direct Use Value Indirect Use Value
(Goods) (Services)

Atmospheric and climate

regulation, pollination, nutrient
recycling
Food, medicine, building
material, fiber, fuel
Cultural, Spiritual and Aesthetic
Direct Use Value: Goods
• Food
• Building Materials
• Fuel
• Paper Products
• Fiber (clothing, textiles)
• Industrial products (waxes,
rubber, oils)
• Medicine
FOOD MEDICIN
E
• Today, most people rely on ~20 • About 80% of the people in
types of plants, and only 3 to 4 developing countries use plants as
staple crops. a primary source of medicine.
• Diversity is critical for developing • 57% of the 150 most-prescribed
new strains and breeds, i.e. that drugs have their origins in
suit a particular environment or biodiversity.
is resistant to pests or disease and
as a source of new crops
Indirect Use Values: Services
• Regulating global processes, such as
atmosphere and climate
• Soil and water conservation
• Nutrient cycling
• Pollination and seed dispersal
• Control of agricultural pests
• Genetic Library
• Inspiration and information
• Scientific and educational
• Tourism and recreation
• Cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic
• Community Resilience
 CLIMATE
REGULATION
Forests and other vegetation modify climate:
 by affecting sun reflectance,
 water vapor release,
 wind patterns and moisture loss.
Forests help maintain a humid environment, for example, more than
half of all rainfall in a tropical ecosystem is produced locally from
the forest-atmosphere cycle.
Pollination and Seed Dispersal
• Many flowering plants
depend on animals for
pollination to produce food.

• 75% of human crops

depend on the free services
of pollinators; replacement
value is estimated at
billions in the tropical
ecosystem.
 Medinilla Magnifica

Philippine
Blue
Angelfish

Philippine
STATUS OF PHILIPPINE Tarsier
Jade Vine
BIODIVERSITY
Philippine
Tamaraw Crocodile

South
Philippine
temple pit
viper
 THE PHILIPPINE
LANDSCAPE

•The world's second-largest archipelago country after Indonesia.

• The Philippines includes more than

7,641 islands covering 300,000 km² • Belongs to the elite list of the 17
(115, 831 mi²) in the westernmost megadiversity countries.
Pacific Ocean.

• One of the top 10 countries in the • 65% of the species of the 50,000 species
world in terms of species richness, of flora and fauna known in the world.
diversity, and endemism developed
through a complex mix of ecosystem and
habitat types.
 THE PHILIPPINE
LANDSCAPE

• The Philippines is the longest

discontinuous coastline in the world
(22,450). Inland Waters Are Composed of:
• 421 principal rivers
• International marine scientists have
regarded the Philippines as the "Center • 69 natural lakes
of Marine Biodiversity" in the world, • more than 100,000ha of
surpassing Australia’s Great Barrier freshwater swamps
Reef.
• further groundwater sources in
• About 488 coral species in 78 genera every major island
are found in the Philippines out of the
800 known coral species worldwide.
 THE PHILIPPINE
LANDSCAPE

• The Philippines is considered to

be the 5th mineralized country
in the world (in terms of minerals
per unit of area of land)

• 2nd to South Africa in gold

production
THE
PHILIPPINE
BIODIVERSITY
The Philippines is considered a mega diversity country and a
global biodiversity hotspot, by the fact that the Philippines have
been dubbed as the "hottest of the hotspots" by no less than the
Conservation International.
 The Philippines is
the Home of
Unbelievable Unique
and
Rare Animals
 The Philippine Eagle
Pithecophaga jefferyi

Parent eagles wait for their offspring

to make it on their own before
producing another.

Did you know that there are only about

400 pairs of Philippine eagles left in
the world?

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/news-

feature/2015/10/15/1511043/15-facts-about-critically-
endangered-philippine-eagle#CLc2dhbLH4OFDePp.99
 Whale Shark Rhincodon typus

A filter-feeding shark, very slow-

moving, and the largest known fish
species in existence.

Giant Clam “Taklobo”

The Giant Clams belong to the
genus Tridacna (Bruguière 1797), of
which Tridacna gigas is the largest
living immobile bivalve mollusk in the
world.
 There are about 105 species of With 557 species of birds (Kennedy et
amphibians with about 82 found only al, 2000) with about 196 species
in the Philippines occurring only in the Philippines
(Alcala, pers.com)
With 183 terrestrial
mammals (Sinha and
Heaney, 2006), 120
species are endemic to
the Philippines.
ENDANGERED
SPECIES
 HOW DO WE KNOW IF A SPECIES IS ENDANGERED?

We use a system called the IUCN Red List.

It is the world's most comprehensive inventory of

the global conservation status of plant and animal
species.

The International Union for the Conservation of

Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is the world's
main authority on the conservation status of species.
How do we know if a species is endangered?

Least
Extinct Threatened Concern

EX EW CR EN VU NT LC

Extinct Critically Near Least

Extinct Endangered Vulnerable
in the Endangered Threatened Concern
Wild
How do we know if a species is endangered?

CR Critically Endangered

The highest risk category assigned by the IUCN for wild

species. Critically endangered means that a species
numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within
three generations

Examples: Philippine Crocodile, Philippine Eagle, black

rhino, gorilla

Threatened
Status of the Philippine Environment
 • Forest cover is already depleted and
about 23% of the endemic species are
threatened with extinction.

• Poor environmental quality has adversely

affected human health and lowering
PRESENT quality of life.
ENVIRONMENTA • Human migration resulted in the
L PROBLEMS conversion of forest land into residential
and industrial areas.

• Recent tragedies brought about by

natural disasters.
PHILIPPINE WATERS FOREST LAND

• 270,000 sq km at the end of 1898 to

• Water pollution due to poor water only 8,000 sq km in 2006
management
• Urbanization, commercial
• Adverse impact cost the economy logging, slash and burn,
of estimated 67B annually agriculture, and forest fires.
• Pasig river, Laguna lake etc. • Leads to severe soil erosion and
• NCR rivers are heavily polluted water pollution
with both industrial and domestic • Most deforested areas in the
effluent. Philippines is the CALABARZON
• Reasons: poor governance region. Most varied landscape in
the country.
BEFORE AFTER
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY AERIAL TERRITORY

• 4th largest polluted capital in the

• Prevailing problem in the country world next to Mexico City,
• Loss or alteration of critical Shanghai, and New Delhi
habitats gravely affects the • 5000 premature deaths which
resident species’ chance for occur in the country are caused by
survival respiratory disease.
• Loss of habitat threatens to destroy • 1.5 M Filipinos suffer from
the ecological balance respiratory sickness
• Such loss of habitat is the critically • 1,768,033 million registered
endangered Philippine Eagle. vehicles traversing the roads of
MM in 2009.
 MINING SECTOR
• Deforestation, loss of wildlife
• Loss of quantity and quality of
water supply
• Decrease of agricultural
production, erosion, and flash
floods water and air pollution
• Toxic waste from the mining
sites are not properly dispose