Some days ago, I went to the library of Leopoldina, the world's oldest academy of science (founded in 1652) and now the national science academy of Germany, located one block away from the institute where I am presently conducting research here in Halle (see photo). I got a nice surprise when I chanced upon an old book titled "Die Philippinen" (The Philippines) written by a German geography professor Albert Kolb who conducted field works throughout the Philippines in the 1930s.
The book describes the characteristics, culture, and livelihood of the Filipino people and discussed in detail the natural resources of the country. Some of the interesting information about Samar island that I found in that classic book concerns population and forest cover.
In 1903, the island had a total population of 266,000 and a population density of 20 persons per square kilometer (km2). This increased to 379,000 in 1918 and a population density of 28 persons per km2. Before the second world war (i.e. 1939), the population further increased to 546,000 or a population density of 40 persons per km2. This means a doubling of population density in 36 years. If we compare this with the new statistics from 2005, a dramatic increase in the island's population occurred after about 70 years. The total population of Samar island in 2005 was 1, 650,022 which means a population density of 121 persons per km2.
Another interesting information in Kolb's book is about forest cover. During the 1930s when he made his travels around Samar much of the island was still covered with lush forest. Only about 7 % of the island's total land area was used for agriculture and the rest (93 %) was covered with forest.I checked various internet sources and have found data from reliable sources showing that the island still had 86% forest cover after the war (1952) which dropped dramatically to 33% in 1987. I estimate that the present forest cover of the island is between 20 to 30%.
The book describes the characteristics, culture, and livelihood of the Filipino people and discussed in detail the natural resources of the country. Some of the interesting information about Samar island that I found in that classic book concerns population and forest cover.
In 1903, the island had a total population of 266,000 and a population density of 20 persons per square kilometer (km2). This increased to 379,000 in 1918 and a population density of 28 persons per km2. Before the second world war (i.e. 1939), the population further increased to 546,000 or a population density of 40 persons per km2. This means a doubling of population density in 36 years. If we compare this with the new statistics from 2005, a dramatic increase in the island's population occurred after about 70 years. The total population of Samar island in 2005 was 1, 650,022 which means a population density of 121 persons per km2.
Another interesting information in Kolb's book is about forest cover. During the 1930s when he made his travels around Samar much of the island was still covered with lush forest. Only about 7 % of the island's total land area was used for agriculture and the rest (93 %) was covered with forest.I checked various internet sources and have found data from reliable sources showing that the island still had 86% forest cover after the war (1952) which dropped dramatically to 33% in 1987. I estimate that the present forest cover of the island is between 20 to 30%.
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