Palawan council blames kaingin for forest loss; group disputes framing

MANILA, Philippines — Southern Palawan lost 57,715 hectares of forest from 2001 to 2023, with kaingin, or slash-and-burn agriculture, accounting for most of the loss, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) said, even as an environmental group cautioned against treating the practice as a catch-all explanation for deforestation. Citing a study conducted by the