Philippine Environmental Advocacy and Education
Forest
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A focal ecosystem
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Plays a very crucial ecological role in soil and water
conservation
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Acts as carbon sink that traps carbon dioxide released in
the atmosphere (a hectare of vegetated forests can trap
a ton of carbon dioxide every year)
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Can moderate local climate
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Serves as efficient watersheds, collecting and regulating
the flow of water supply which can be tapped for
household and industrial use, or agricultural irrigation
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Prevents flash floods, control soil erosion and water
pollution.
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Source of wood, water, and power
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Host one of the world’s richest plant and animal species
CRITICAL ISSUE: Massive deforestation
Major Causes: Large scale logging activities (legal and illegal)
either to produce timber or to clear lands for other purposes.
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Natural calamities such as forest fires, volcanic
eruptions, weather disturbance
Environmental Issues:
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Increasing number of endangered plant and animal
species
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Deforestation-induced erosion, causing flash floods
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Destruction of watersheds, causing siltation problems
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Displacement and dislocation of the indigenous peoples
and upland dwellers
AGRICULTURAL LANDS

Crucial life-support system

Its cultivation has been developed by society to
regularly meet food needs and to provide raw materials
basic for the needs and development of a society.

13 million hectares (93%) of the 14.2 million hectares of
alienable and disposable land are classified as
agricultural lands.

Primary agricultural crops: rice, corn, coconut and sugar
cane.

Philippine soils are classified to define the best suitable
crops and land use. The basis for land classification are
slope criterion, soil type drainage, climate and soil
cover.
CRITICAL ISSUE: Land degradation
Major Causes:

Erosions in grasslands and pasturelands
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Destructive practices such as deforestation, rampant
misuse of farm chemicals
Environmental Issues:
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Topsoil loss results in the loss of soil’s organic matter
and moisture holding capacity, which then causes
increased run-off, reduced infiltration, and poorer
seedbed qualities.
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Heavy reliance on farm chemicals has resulted in
increased soil acidity, increased nutrient load of
surrounding water bodies due to fertilizer run-off,
decreased pest resistance and genetic erosion
accompanied by increased crop vulnerability to pests
and diseases
Coastal and Marine Resources
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Provide food, raw materials and ecological balance.
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The Philippine archipelago has the longest discontinuous
coastline in the world.
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The country’s marine area (classified as coastal and
oceanic waters) measures about seven times its land
area.
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The country’s coral reef area, the breeding ground of
marine life, is identified to be the richest in the world
with 488 species in corals in 78 genera.
CRITICAL ISSUE: Depletion of fish resources
Major causes: Overfishing, Degrading coral reefs, Mangrove
conversion, Marine pollution
Environmental Issues:

Rampant coral reef destructions is attributed to
siltation due to logging-induced erosion and mining
waste, and destructive fishing practices like blast
fishing, muro-ami fishing, and cyanide fishing, which all
results to low fish productivity.
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Mangrove conversion into fishpond areas results to loss
of natural nursery grounds to numerous plant and
animal species abound the area.
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The quality of coastal water has deteriorated over time
due to sewage and industrial effluents from urban
areas, mine tailings, oil from shipping operations, and
agricultural run-off.
Freshwater Resources
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Crucial life support system; can be used for drinking, for
household use, for irrigation in agriculture, and for
industrial and energy use.
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Rivers, streams and lakes are pathways for the
circulation of water on the planet.
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Rivers draining mountains are vehicles of mineral
nutrients and materials like silt, pebbles, stones, rocks
and live organisms.
CRITICAL ISSUE: Water shortage
Major Causes:
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Deterioration of water quality
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Poor management and graft corruption
Environmental Issues:
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Water quality degradation is attributed to various
pollutive practices such as direct waste dumping by
domestic and industrial sources, sedimentation by
logging-induced soil erosion, siltation by mining, and
other ecologically disturbing agricultural practices.
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Groundwater exploitation has resulted in salination or
salt-water intrusion.
Urbanization and Industrialization
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The result of rapid economic growth which requires the
development of centers of industry, trade and other
economic activities.
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The country’s level of urbanization as of 1990 is pegged
at 48.6%. It was at 29.8% in 1960, 31.8% in 1970, and
37.5% in 1980.
•
The country has 1,600 urban areas, 123 of which are
considered major and account for 45.5% of the
country’s total population
CRITICIAL ISSUE: Pollution and overcrowding
Major Causes: Rural poverty and overpopulation, Industrial
development
Environmental Issue:
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The Philippine brand of “urbanization” has been
equated to increased garbage and waste generation and
pollution.
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Deterioration of air, water, and soil quality in premier
metropolises and industrialized sectors.
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Congestion due to overpopulation.
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Energy problems
CASE STUDY 2A: Philippine Logging Policy, A Sustainable
Development?
Unfair, administration still favors the loggers over the
indigenous people.
Banned wood exports and opt to wood imports
CASE STUDY 2B: Genetically Modified Food in the Philippines
The GM food aimed to make crops for it not to get
infested by pests but still get infested by pests. (Ex. Bt
corn)
Destroys local agricultural harvest
CASE STUDY 2C: Philippine Marine Water Pollution
sewage and industrial effluents from urban areas, mine
tailings, oil from shipping operations and agricultural
run-off.
Manila Bay is deteriorating
Red tide in Pangasinan, a marine involving an algal
bloom in sheltered bays with restricted outflows, the
algal bloom can kill fish and other types of marine life. In
some cases, the organisms may possess toxic substances
harmless to fish but fatal to humans.
CASE STUDY 2D: Killing the Waters of Life
vast resources of freshwater, but is actually
experiencing water shortages due to lack to resources
due to lack of other social services
CASE STUDY 2E: Urban Congestion
population is not the cause of the deteriorating
condition in the urban centers, but the illusion of urban
development which fails to cope with the influx of the
impoverished rural migrants. The failure rests primarily
on the kind of development that is actually happening
and, at the very least, on the government for turning
over its responsibilities to the private sector.
heavy militarization, the impact of government
infrastructure projects, and other negative
repercussions of private forestry, mining and plantation,
resulted in the crowding of urban areas as unskilled
workers troop, only to find a similar plight.
ENERGY SOURCES AND USES
Energy (Energeia in Greek)
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In physics, simply known as activity or operation
Energy Use Development
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Muscle Power
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Domestic Animals
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Windmills/Water wheels
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Steamship
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Steam locomotive
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Gasoline engine (Automobile)
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Turbine Engine
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Nuclear Power
Primary Energy Source – fossil fuels, radioactive material, and
solar, wind and water and other energy sources that exist as
natural resources (Renewable sources)
Secondary Energy Source – form of energy that must be produced
from a primary energy source (Electrical Power)
Energy Uses:
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Transportation
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Industrial Processes
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Commercial and Residential Uses (heating, cooling,
lighting, etc.)
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Generation of Electrical Power
RENEWABLE SOURCES
Solar Energy

Photovoltaic cells (PV cells) – simple wafer of material
which puts out an electrical current when sunlight hits it

Solar Trough Collector – uses sun’s energy to boil water
to produce steam for driving a turbogenerator
Hydropower – water under high pressure at the bottom of the
reservoir behind the dam drives turbogenerators as it flows
through
Wind Power – uses wind-driven propeller blades and a propeller
shaft which is geared directly to a generator
Biomass energy of Bioconversion – use of biomass as fuel;
burning materials such as wood, paper and plant wastes directly
to produce energy or converting such materials into fuels such as
alcohol and methane
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) – uses the thermal
gradient of about 20C which exists between the surface water
heated by the sun and colder deeper water
Geothermal Energy – useful energy derived from the natural hot
interior of the earth
Tidal power – incoming tide flowing through the turbines
generates power; as the tide shifts, the blades can be reversed
Non-Renewable Energy
Fossil Fuel (Natural gas) – trapped methane, previously from
volcanic seeps & gassy mud pots, solid waste landfills
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does not have an unlimited amount
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comes from a depleting source that cannot be
replenished over time
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It is produced from onshore and offshore natural gas
and oil wells and from coal beds.
Crude Oil – residual “sludge”
liquid petroleum that is found accumulated in various porous rock
formations in Earth's crust and is extracted for burning as fuel or
for processing into chemical products
naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid found in geological
formations
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Oil is a carbon-based fuel that forms when plant and
animal remains are exposed to extreme conditions such
as high pressure for thousands of years. The oil we use
today took millennia to form.
Coal – highly compressed organic matter (mostly leafy material
from swamp vegetation) that decomposed relatively little
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a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock
with a high amount of carbon and hydrocarbons
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Coal is classified as a nonrenewable energy source
because it takes millions of years to form
Alternative Fossil Fuel
Synthetic Fuels or synfuels – coal-derived fuels (uses chemical
processes that converts coal to a liquid or gas fuel)
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Liquids from coal, peat, natural gas, & oil shale
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Ex: diesel oil, gasoline, fuel oil, methanol
Oil shale – fine sedimentary rock containing a mixture of solid,
waxlike hydrocarbons called kerogen (after heating, recondenses
to form a black, viscous substance similar to crude oil)
Tar sands – sedimentary material containing bitumen, an
extremely viscous, tarlike hydrocarbon
Nuclear Energy – control of nuclear reactions so that energy is
released gradually as heat
Two Basic Processes: (The mass of the product(s) is less than the
mass of the starting material(s) and the lost mass is converted to
energy)
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Fission – a large atom of one element is split to produce
two smaller atoms of different elements
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Fusion – two small atoms combine to form a larger atom
of a different element