When we talk about progress in the Philippines, we often point to what rises above the ground — skyways cutting through traffic, airports expanding connectivity and skylines climbing higher each year. These structures are visible markers of economic growth. For decades, they have been treated as proof of national advancement.

But in a climate-vulnerable archipelago like ours, the foundations of resilience lie not only in what we build. They also lie in the ecological systems that effectively, if quietly, stabilize our landscapes and sustain our economy.

Forests are among the most important of these systems. They are not simply ecological assets or timber reserves waiting to be extracted. In a warming world, forests function as natural systems that regulate water, stabilize landscapes, and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Protecting them is not only an environmental concern; it is a matter of national stability.

The urgency of this reality becomes clear when we look at the numbers. The Philippines spans roughly 30 million hectares of land, yet today the Forest Management Bureau reports in 2022 that only about 7.22 million hectares — around 24 percent — remain under forest cover. It is important to note that these data include closed forest, open forest and mangrove forest and excludes shrublands, grasslands and plantations unless classified as forest land.

In spatial terms, this remaining forest area is roughly equivalent to the combined land area of Region I, Region II, and Region III.

In 1934, however, forest cover in the Philippines was estimated at around 17.8 million hectares. In other words, the country has lost more than 10 million hectares of forests over the past century — an area comparable to the combined land areas of Regions I, II, III, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the Bicol Region.

This ecological contraction is not merely statistical. It reflects the weakening of systems that regulate water, prevent erosion, sustain biodiversity and absorb greenhouse gases.

In an archipelagic country like ours, forests anchor interconnected ridge-to-reef systems that link mountains, watersheds, rivers, and coastal ecosystems. Healthy forests regulate rainfall absorption and groundwater recharge, stabilize soils, and slow the movement of water across landscapes.

These functions reduce flooding downstream, prevent erosion that clogs rivers and reservoirs, and limit sediments that eventually reach coastal waters and coral reefs.

What happens in upland forests therefore shapes the resilience of communities far beyond the forest itself — from farms dependent on reliable irrigation to coastal fisheries that sustain livelihoods across the archipelago.

When forests disappear, the risks cascade. Watersheds become unstable, flood risks intensify, and sediments degrade downstream ecosystems. These environmental disruptions quickly become economic ones. Farmers lose reliable water supplies, fisheries suffer from declining coastal health, and communities become more exposed to landslides and stronger storms.

Seen from this systemic perspective, forest protection becomes more than conservation policy. It becomes a form of national risk management.

Forests are also one of the few climate strategies that advance adaptation and mitigation simultaneously. Healthy forests help communities adapt to intensifying climate hazards by stabilizing landscapes and regulating water systems. At the same time, they function as powerful carbon sinks that help reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

The Philippines holds a particularly important position in this regard. As one of the world’s 18 megadiverse countries, it hosts ecosystems that sustain an extraordinary share of global biodiversity. In a country where mountains, rivers and coastal waters form interconnected ecological corridors, protecting forests helps safeguard systems whose benefits extend far beyond the forest itself.

Across the Philippines, many forest landscapes have long been stewarded by indigenous communities whose cultural traditions evolved alongside the ecosystems they inhabit. Their knowledge reflects a practical understanding of how forests sustain water, biodiversity and livelihoods across generations.

Recognizing the importance of these natural systems — and the indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage that have sustained them — national climate policy has increasingly integrated ecosystem-based approaches to resilience.

The Philippines’ first National Adaptation Plan (NAP) completed under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. identifies ecosystem-based adaptation as a central pillar of climate resilience. Protecting and restoring forests strengthens watershed management, reduces disaster risks, and stabilizes ecosystems that support communities.

Forests also contribute to the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. Land-use management and forest conservation support mitigation efforts while reinforcing the ecological systems that help communities adapt to climate change.

Across the country, efforts to restore forest landscapes are gaining momentum. Through initiatives such as the Climate Change Commission’s Net Zero Challenge, local governments and communities are mobilizing tree-growing and ecosystem restoration efforts that contribute to climate action on the ground.

Yet the deeper question goes beyond individual programs. It concerns how we understand development itself.

Development that ignores ecological boundaries may generate short-term gains, but it also creates long-term vulnerabilities. When watersheds degrade, soils erode, and biodiversity declines, the systems that sustain agriculture, water supply and local economies begin to weaken.

In a climate-vulnerable archipelago like the Philippines, safeguarding forests is therefore not simply about protecting nature. It is about protecting the ecological foundations that sustain national resilience.

As we commemorate the International Day of Forests, let us remember that the roots of resilience run deeper than any structure we build. They lie in the forests that stabilize our watersheds, regulate our climate, and sustain the living systems on which our nation depends.