<P> The government regularly granted logging concessions of less than ten years . Since it takes 30--35 years for a second - growth forest to mature, loggers had no incentive to replant . Compounding the error, flat royalties encouraged the loggers to remove only the most valuable species . A horrendous 40 percent of the harvestable lumber never left the forests but, having been damaged in the logging, rotted or was burned in place . The unsurprising result of these and related policies is that out of 17 million hectares of closed forests that flourished early in the century only 1.2 million remain today . </P> <P> Due to industrial waste and automobiles, Manila suffers from air pollution, affecting 98% of the population . Annually, the air pollution causes more than 4,000 deaths . Ermita is Manila's most air polluted district due to open dump sites and industrial waste . According to a report in 2003, The Pasig River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world with 150 tons of domestic waste and 75 tons of industrial waste dumped daily . </P> <P> Recognizing the need to tackle the environment issues as well as the need to sustain development and growth, the Philippines came up with the Sustainable Development Strategy . The nation for the Sustainable Development Strategy includes assimilating environmental considerations in administration, apposite pricing of natural resources, conservation of biodiversity, rehabilitation of ecosystems, control of population growth and human resources development, inducing growth in rural areas, promotion of environmental education, strengthening citizens' participation, and promoting small to medium - sized enterprises and sustainable agricultural and forestry practices . One of the initiatives signed in part of the strategy was the 1992 Earth Summit . </P> <P> Upon signing the 1992 Earth Summit, the government of Philippines has been constantly looking into many different initiatives to improve the environmental aspects of the country . </P>

Reaction paper about environmental problems in the philippines
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