section_path: Geography/Biodiversity
section_name: Biodiversity
paragraph_text: Biodiversity
  
  The Philippines is a megadiverse country, with some of the world's highest rates of discovery and endemism (67 percent). With an estimated 13,500 plant species in the country (3,500 of which are endemic), Philippine rain forests have an array of flora: about 3,500 species of trees, 8,000 flowering plant species, 1,100 ferns, and 998 orchid species have been identified. The Philippines has 167 terrestrial mammals (102 endemic species), 235 reptiles (160 endemic species), 99 amphibians (74 endemic species), 686 birds (224 endemic species), and over 20,000 insect species.
  
  As an important part of the Coral Triangle ecoregion, Philippine waters have unique, diverse marine life and the world's greatest diversity of shore-fish species. The country has over 3,200 fish species (121 endemic). Philippine waters sustain the cultivation of fish, crustaceans, oysters, and seaweeds.
  
  Eight major types of forests are distributed throughout the Philippines: dipterocarp, beach forest, pine forest, molave forest, lower montane forest, upper montane (or mossy forest), mangroves, and ultrabasic forest. According to official estimates, the Philippines had 7,000,000 hectares (27,000 sq mi) of forest cover in 2023. Logging had been systemized during the American colonial period and deforestation continued after independence, accelerating during the Marcos presidency due to unregulated logging concessions. Forest cover declined from 70 percent of the Philippines' total land area in 1900 to about 18.3 percent in 1999. Rehabilitation efforts have had marginal success.
  
  The Philippines is a priority hotspot for biodiversity conservation; it has more than 200 protected areas, which was expanded to 7,790,000 hectares (30,100 sq mi) as of 2023. Three sites in the Philippines have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List: the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, and the Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary.