Modeling the risk of illegal forest activity and its distribution in the southeastern region of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, Philippines

Abstract

Illegal activity within protected forests, such as illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming, and agricultural expansion, has brought many plant and animal species to the brink of extinction and threatens various conservation efforts. The Philippine government has introduced a number of actions to combat environmental degradation, including the use of mobile platforms such as the SMART-Lawin system to collect patrol data from the field, which represents a remarkable step towards data-driven conservation management. However, it remains difficult to control illegal forest activity within protected landscapes due to limited patrol and law enforcement resources. A better understanding of the spatial distribution of illegal activity is crucial to strengthening and efficiently implementing forest protection practices. In the present study, we predicted the spatial distribution of illegal activity and identified the associated environmental factors using maximum entropy modeling (MaxEnt). Patrol data collected using the SMART-Lawin system from the Baliuag Conservation Area for the period 2017-2019 were used to train and validate the MaxEnt models. We tuned the MaxEnt parameter setting using the ENMeval package in R to overcome sampling bias, avoid overfitting, and balance model complexity. The resulting MaxEnt models provided a clear understanding of the overall risk of illegal activity and its spatial distribution within the conservation area. This study demonstrated the potential utility of data-driven models developed from patrol observation records. The output of this research is beneficial for conservation managers who are required to allocate limited resources and make informed management decisions.

Simplified and High Accessibility Approach for the Rapid Assessment of Deforestation in Developing Countries: A Case of Timor-Leste

“…Nationwide FDD assessment, while securing outstanding accuracy, requires sufficient resources to classify the land cover change [37,38,[41][42][43][44]. However, the survey data, scientific experts, and the budget of research of many countries are limited.…”

“…However, these countries have made some progress in recent years in developing their capacity for environmental monitoring and management [39,40]. For example, many countries have established national systems for monitoring land use, forest cover change, and human activities using field survey data and satellite imagery [41][42][43][44]. However, despite this progress, there are still significant challenges associated with providing effective conservation strategies based on high-quality FDD assessment.…”

Species diversity of Annonaceae in the four selected protected areas in the Bicol Region, Philippines

“…Mayon Volcano Natural Park (MMVNP) in Albay. These PAs must be explored for plant families because of the threats, destruction and extinction caused by natural disasters like typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and anthropogenic activities (Barit et al 2022). Floristic assessments still need to be expanded on Annonaceae, because most assessments are general listings of plants, and some focus on timber trees and their economic aspects (Hernandez et al 2021;Banag-Moran et al 2022).…”