Natural Resources

     So you know that the Philippines is a bunch of islands in the Pacific. An island is surrounded by water, so you would think their main resource is fish. Sure, but the Philippines has a lot more to offer than just aquatic animals. When I was researching for this report I was surprised to see the Philippines is one of the world’s richest mineral resources. So don’t be surprised to find a miner in every other Philippine family. (not that you would go around asking people) Now don’t think the miner’s are being paid a lot of money. You see the people that run the mines are the ones making the big bucks. So the people doing the hard dirty work are given only about three dollars and thirty cents a day! And you thought your allowance was small.

    The Philippines is tropical, we figured that out when we talked about climate. So they grow tropical fruit…. big surprise. Two of their number one products are sugar cane and coconuts. Sixty-five percent of the Philippines is covered in mountains. So, the thirty-five percent that isn’t mountains is being shared by villages/city’s fields for farming, and much more. Question: What do you think most of the excess, land (besides villages/city’s) are used for? If you thought back carefully your answer should be sugarcane and coconuts.  So Rosemary our poor entrepreneur, single mother of four is struggling to get excess land for her pig farm. One it’s expensive and two most excess land is for growing crops. Imagine the quality of the land she has for her pigs. (not that pigs are picky) 

    Environmentalists are worried about the dependence of timber in the Philippines. This is because sixty-five percent of the Philippines is mountains, so there is a small percentage of forest. Most of the forest is being cut down which is causing environment problems. Environmentally this is bad, but less forest means more excess land. (not that the forest isn’t important) As you can see the Philippines may have an abundance of natural resources, but it can have some huge effects on the people.

https://www.mapcruzin.com/free-maps-thematic/philippines_land_1973.jpg