In 1546, English playwright John Heywood published a book of proverbs – “A Dialogue Containing the Number in Effect of All the Proverbs in the English Tongue”.
Among the entries was this adage: You can’t see the forest for the trees.
This means is that it is possible to miss the significance of a larger context due to being focused on details.
The “forest” in this story is the Philippines as a “megadiverse country” – one of a select group of nations that contain the majority of the Earth’s biodiversity, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity, an organization sponsored by the United Nations.
The “trees” in this story are the tens of thousands of species of plants and animals that constitute the Philippines’ natural environment.
As regards megadiversity, to qualify as a megadiverse nation, a country must have at least 5,000 endemic or native plant species and border a marine ecosystem, according to Conservation International, an environmental organization in Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
By this measure, there are only 18 megadiverse countries among the 193 United Nations member states. These 18 nations contain 70 to 80 percent of the world’s plant and animal species.
And the Philippines ranks near the top on almost all measures of biodiversity.
For example, the Philippines is fifth worldwide in the number of plant species, or flora, being home to more than 10,000 species and accounting for approximately 5 percent of the world’s total. Half of these are endemic, meaning that they are found nowhere else in the world.
The Philippines also ranks fifth worldwide in terms of the number of faunal species – that is to say, animals – with over 52,177 documented species, about half of which are endemic or native to the Philippines.
Colloquially speaking, the Philippines is “Way Up There!”
To put these numbers in a greater context, when added together, the total number of animal species on earth – fish birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians – is 54,000 to 72,000, depending on the source.
The reasons for the discrepancy in numbers of species are due largely to disagreements among zoologists over designating an animal as a species or subspecies, and to sampling methods.
The Philippines is also notable for ranking fourth in bird endemism – “endemic” means “naturally found only in a specific geographic area” — and fifth in mammal endemism.
Despite this richness, the Philippines is also classified as a “biodiversity hotspot”. This is because some 900 species in the Philippines are threatened by habitat loss, deforestation and climate change.
Take forest cover, for example.
Forest cover in the Philippines has declined from about 90 percent during the “Panahon ng Kastila”, or the Spanish Era, to about 20 percent today.
Coral reefs also are threatened, with only about five percent of reefs in excellent condition today.
The organization most responsible for identifying and announcing these environmental threats is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, founded in 1948 and situated in Switzerland.
The IUCN is best known for its “Red List of Threatened Species”, which categorizes species based on their risk of extinction.
Scientifically, there are nine levels of endangerment as defined by the IUCN.
These levels range from being “Extinct” to being of “Least Concern”.
So much for the “forest”. Now it’s time for the “trees”.
Enter The Happy Island.
Catanduanes is the Philippines’ 12th largest island and home to a remarkable number of rare and endemic species, including 25 species of threatened birds (Catanduanes Tribune, March 12 and 19).
In fact, the province has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, an organization founded in 1922 and situated in Cambridge, England.
Also threatened are a number of other species that are not classified as endemic but are classified as “native species”, having long ago successfully established themselves in the local environment.
These include the hawksbill sea turtle, hunted for its meat and its ornate shell, and the reticulated python, the world’s longest snake, hunted for its meat and skin.
The reticulated python, due to its wide distribution and adaptability to new environments, is not classified as an endangered species. It is listed as being of “Least Concern” by the IUCN.
However, the local population of reticulated pythons in Catanduanes is threatened because of hunting and habitat loss, and this upsets the balance of nature. A number of other species share this fate.
Regarding habitat loss, in 1969, the province had 24,500 hectares of old-growth forests – or, assuming a total land area of 1,492 square kilometers, 16 percent of the island.
But due to extensive logging, much of it illegal, the number has declined to 5,900 hectares today, or 4 percent of land area.
The remaining old-growth forest is mostly located in the Catanduanes Watershed Forest Reserve, which is shared by Baras, Caramoran, San Andres, San Miguel, Virac and Viga..
It is said that the CWFR is the “last frontier” of closed forest cover in the Bicol Region.
In addition to its small block of old-growth forest, Catanduanes has a rainforest block of about 69,770 hectares.
Catanduanes is not alone among the nation’s 7,641 islands in being noteworthy for its biodiversity. Also included are Palawan, Mindoro and Verde Island, south of Batangas.
However, Catanduanes is more exposed to heavy weather than these other islands.
The province sticks out into the Western Pacific, often making it the first Philippine island to experience incoming typhoons whose “howling winds” knock down stands of mature trees, leading to habitat loss and subsequent soil erosion.
In short, if there is a moral to this story, it is that the province is a jewel in the crown of the nation’s biodiversity, and it is worthwhile to preserve this treasure for future generations.