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Environmental Degradation and Some Economic Consequences in the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Norman Myers
Affiliation:
Consultant in Environment and Development, Upper Meadow, Old Road, Headington, Oxford 0X3 8SZ, England, UK.

Extract

As this paper demonstrates, the Philippines is undergoing much environmental degradation—mainly in the form of deforestation, soil erosion, disruption of hydrological systems, over-exploitation of fisheries, destruction of coral reefs, and extinction of species. These problems are accentuated by the pressures of a large, fast-growing and impoverished population; and they may shortly start to be aggravated yet more by climatic change in the wake of the global ‘greenhouse effect’. Moreover, and as this paper further makes plain, the environmental degradation leads to adverse economic consequences that are pervasive and profound—as may be expected in a country where several salient sectors of development are dependent upon the natural-resource base. In the long run, indeed, environmental degradation could well preclude the Philippines' prospects for sustainable development.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1988

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