The Human Causes of Deforestation i n Southeast Asia The recurrent pattern is that of large-scale logging for exports, followed by agricultural expansion David M. Kummer and B. L. Turner II and-cover change is emerging as a central issue within the community concerned with global environmental change. The importance of this issue is attested by the emerging International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and the Human Dimensions Programme's science agenda on Land-Use/Cover Change (IGBP-HDP LUCC; Turner et al. 1993), as well as the many international panels, workshops, and symposia devoted to the topic.

Population pressure, expansion of small-scale agriculture and shifting cultivation are commonly cited as the causes of tropical deforestation. A close examination of deforestation and agriculture in the Philippine uplands reveals, however, that the vast majority of agriculturists must be sedentary farmers. In addition, the importance of population pressure as a cause of deforestation in the Philippines cannot be supported by the available evidence. Lastly, the concept of 'arable land' is shown to be of limited value in discussing upland agriculture in the Philippines.

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Abstract. This paper demonstrates how Philippine forestry statistics were either ignored or deliberately manipulated from the late 1940s to 1986 when former President Marcos fled the country. The implications for social scientists studying land-use change and related matters in countries where elites have a vested interest in concealing their activities could be substantial.

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