By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz  The continuing deforestation in the country could put the Philippines at risk from the emergence of new infectious diseases, as it loses one of its main protective barriers from possible outbreaks. Citing various studies from the United Nations and other non-government organizations, the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) noted that emerging infectious diseases in tropical countries, like the Philippines, are aggravated, if not caused, by changes in land and forest cover, particularly deforestation and forest fragmentation. It pointed out that without forests, more and more diseases that could potentially be harmful or fatal to humans will emerge. There is a need to act fast to prevent this from happening, it said. "The Philippines has one of the fastest deforestation rates in the world, and yet our forests house two thirds of the planet’s biodiversity, which supports a wide spectrum of flora and fauna. If we continue to allow our forests to be denuded, we will lose our forests in the next two decades and we open ourselves up to risks of emerging diseases," WWF-Philippines president and CEO Joel Palma said. The group cited a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) estimates that 47,000 hectares of forest cover is lost each year, attributed mainly to rampant illegal logging and lack of security in protected areas. This is an alarmingly huge figure that not only affects wildlife in those areas, but also affects the quality of air that humans breathe, lessens the protection that humans get from natural disasters, and dampens the natural prevention of emerging diseases, WWF-Philippines said. According to Palma, the Philippines could have prevented this from happening, if only it had been more stringent in the implementation of laws that protect forests, as well as implemented programs that aim to further nourish the existing ones. "The time to act now has already passed. We should have acted yesterday to prevent further damage in the future. But this reality is a reminder for us that the severity of this situation calls for collaborative action--everyone must participate to win this war against deforestation," Palma said. In partnership with GCash, WWF-Philippines, Biodiversity Finance Initiative of the United Nations Development Programme and the DENR have agreed to virtually plant and nourish 365,000 trees starting July 2020. Through the GCash Forest program, Filipino mobile phone users can earn green energy points by reducing their individual carbon footprint, such as by paying bills online, which eliminates the need to drive to a bank and consume paper for receipts and forms. GCash Forest interfaces with existing mobile fitness apps to accurately measure not only the energy saved, but how much carbon emissions are reduced. Each green energy point corresponds to a gram of carbon saved. The points are then used to nourish a virtual tree in GCash Forest. When users reach 20,560 points, his or her virtual tree will be fully-grown. "The program calls for the participation of individuals to join hands with us as we rehabilitate the watersheds. We have seen an encouraging number of people willingly volunteering with us as we move on with this project," Palma said.