The water
Bottled water; typhoon season changes drinking logistics on islands. Tap water: Not drinkable.
Philippines
The endemic Philippine eagle, one of the world's largest eagles, found only in the Philippines
RegionAsiaCurrencyPHPPowerType A/B/C, 220V (varies)Tap waterNot drinkable
Good
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
The Philippines is a major farming and fishing nation, the world's top exporter of coconut products and a big producer of banana, sugarcane, rice and tropical fruit, yet it is also the world's largest rice importer and buys in…Read more
The Philippines is a major farming and fishing nation, the world's top exporter of coconut products and a big producer of banana, sugarcane, rice and tropical fruit, yet it is also the world's largest rice importer and buys in significant food. Domestic agriculture is large but staple self sufficiency is only moderate.
Local staples
Rice, coconut, root crops, tropical fruit and vegetables; fish and pork in most dishes
Markets
Daily wet markets (palengke); Sunday and town markets across the provinces
In season
Two rice harvests (main October to December, second March to May); mango season March to June
Wildlife
The Philippines is a top tier biodiversity hotspot with some of the highest endemism per unit area on Earth: the critically endangered Philippine eagle, the Philippine tarsier, Palawan and Visayan endemics, and rich but heavily…Read more
The Philippines is a top tier biodiversity hotspot with some of the highest endemism per unit area on Earth: the critically endangered Philippine eagle, the Philippine tarsier, Palawan and Visayan endemics, and rich but heavily threatened marine life at the apex of the Coral Triangle. Many species are found nowhere else, and many are at risk. The World Bank and IUCN list about 42 threatened mammal and 91 threatened bird species (2022).
Found nowhere else
Philippine eagle, Philippine tarsier, Palawan and Visayan endemics
Natural phenomena
Typhoon season Jun–Nov; the dry season Dec–May is the window.
When to go
Dry season for island hopping, before the typhoon months
Getting around
Domestic flights for island hopping; jeepneys and tricycles in towns; ferries and outrigger bangka boats between islands
Good to know
Cash widely used; PHP. English is spoken widely.
Safety
Solo female travel: Take care. LGBTQ+: Mixed.
Only hereThe endemic Philippine eagle, one of the world's largest eagles, found only in the Philippines
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
62/100
Good
The Eco Index: Philippines
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here The endemic Philippine eagle, one of the world's largest eagles, found only in the Philippines
- Forest cover
- 24.3%
- Land protected
- 15.87%
- Sea protected
- 1.74%
- Organic farmland
- 1.5%
- Found nowhere else
- Philippine eagle, Philippine tarsier, Palawan and Visayan endemics
- Renewable power
- 24%
- CO2 per person
- 1.51 tonnes (2024) t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 18.1
- Cleanest air
- Batanes and the Cordillera highlands around Sagada
- Water from
- Bottled water; typhoon season changes drinking logistics on islands.
- Tap water
- Not drinkable
- Safe drinking water
- 47.5%
- Cleanest water
- Tubbataha Reefs, El Nido and Coron's Kayangan Lake in Palawan; Apo Island
- Springs
- Volcanic hot springs around Los Banos and Pansol (Laguna), Camiguin and Tiwi
- In season
- Two rice harvests (main October to December, second March to May); mango season March to June
- Plastic ban
- No comprehensive national ban; 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility Act and many local bag bans
- Watch out for
- Large scale nickel mining, for example on Sibuyan and in Palawan, and destructive fishing
- Solo female travel
- Take care
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- Mixed
- Best months
- December to April
- Getting around
- Domestic flights for island hopping; jeepneys and tricycles in towns; ferries and outrigger bangka boats between islands
- Power
- Type A/B/C, 220V (varies)
- Currency
- PHP
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 2/5 | High rainfall and many rivers give the Philippines ample raw freshwater, but delivery and quality lag: WHO/UNICEF JMP and World Bank data put safely managed drinking water at about 47.5 per… Full assessmentent of the population in 2020, and Metro Manila and other cities face seasonal supply stress and contamination. Typhoons disrupt supply, and tap water is not reliably safe for visitors. Abundant rain, uneven safe delivery. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 3/5 | The Philippines is a major farming and fishing nation, the world's top exporter of coconut products and a big producer of banana, sugarcane, rice and tropical fruit, yet it is also the worl… Full assessment's largest rice importer and buys in significant food. Domestic agriculture is large but staple self sufficiency is only moderate. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 3/5 | Rice, root crops, coconut, tropical fruit and vegetables are everywhere and cheap, so plant food is easy to source, but everyday Filipino cuisine is strongly meat and fish centred, built on… Full assessmentpork, chicken and fish. Whole food plant eating is available but not a dominant culture. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 3/5 | FiBL records about 1.5 percent of agricultural land as certified organic in 2020, roughly 192,000 hectares, supported by the Organic Agriculture Act and a growing organic rice, muscovado an… Full assessmentcoconut sector. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 3/5 | Terrestrial protected areas cover about 15.9 percent of the land (World Bank, 2021), and although formal marine protection was low at about 1.7 percent, the country runs thousands of small … Full assessmentommunity marine sanctuaries plus flagship sites such as the UNESCO listed Tubbataha Reefs and Apo Island. Enforcement is uneven, with illegal fishing and logging persisting, but the best run marine protected areas are genuinely effective. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 3/5 | The Philippines is a top tier biodiversity hotspot with some of the highest endemism per unit area on Earth: the critically endangered Philippine eagle, the Philippine tarsier, Palawan and … Full assessmentisayan endemics, and rich but heavily threatened marine life at the apex of the Coral Triangle. Many species are found nowhere else, and many are at risk. The World Bank and IUCN list about 42 threatened mammal and 91 threatened bird species (2022). |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 4/5 | The archipelago is a global source of native plant fibres: abaca (Manila hemp), pina woven from pineapple leaves for the barong tagalog, banana fibre, and the sacred abaca ikat t'nalak wove… Full assessmentby T'boli communities, alongside pandan and buri weaving. These fibres are cultivated, woven and worn today. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 2/5 | The Philippines is repeatedly ranked among the world's largest contributors of plastic to the ocean, driven by a sachet economy and gaps in waste collection (Jambeck and later studies). Full assessmentThe 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility Act and many local bag bans are steps forward, but there is no comprehensive national single use ban and marine plastic remains severe. Ambient PM2.5 averages about 18.1 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2017), moderate. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 2/5 | The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) mandates segregation and material recovery, and a large informal junk shop sector recovers materials, but formal municipal recycling rate… Full assessmentare low and compliance is uneven across local governments. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 3/5 | The Philippine grid remains dominated by coal, which supplied about 62% of electricity in 2024, while renewables, mainly geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind, provided roughly 22%. Full assessmentFossil carbon dioxide emissions are very low at around 1.51 tonnes per person in 2024, reflecting widespread energy poverty rather than a clean system. The government placed a moratorium on new coal plants in 2020 and targets 35% renewable electricity by 2030 and 50% by 2040 under the Renewable Energy Act. The very low per person emissions are balanced against a heavily coal reliant grid. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 4/5 | Living indigenous communities remain strong, above all the Ifugao who still farm the 2,000 year old UNESCO listed rice terraces, plus Cordillera, Lumad, Mangyan, T'boli and Palawan groups w… Full assessmentth intact crafts and traditions. Genuine community and homestay tourism exists in these areas, but much mainstream tourism is beach and resort based and more extractive, as the 2018 Boracay closure for overtourism showed. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 5/5 | The Philippines holds diverse living heritage across indigenous, Islamic and lowland communities. Full assessmentFolk dances such as tinikling, the bamboo dance, and the Maranao singkil are widely performed, alongside kulintang gong music and rondalla string ensembles. In the Cordillera the Ifugao still chant the Hudhud, and the Maranao keep the Darangen epic, both inscribed by UNESCO, while babaylan and anito ancestral traditions persist among many indigenous groups. Weaving, tattooing and community rituals continue to carry ancestral meaning. |
Before you go
Cash widely used; PHP. English is spoken widely.
Where these figures come from
- FAO and World Bank, Forest area (percent of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2022. source
- World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas (percent of total land area) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2021. source
- World Bank, Marine protected areas (percent of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2021. source
- Low Carbon Power (data from Ember, IEA and World Bank), Philippines electricity mix, 2025. source
- WHO/UNICEF JMP and World Bank, Safely managed drinking water (percent of population) SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, 2020. source
- World Bank, PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre) EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2017. source
- FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture 2022 (2020 data), organic farmland share. source
- World Bank and IUCN Red List, threatened mammal and bird species (EN.MAM.THRD.NO, EN.BIR.THRD.NO), 2022. source
- Jambeck et al., Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean, Science, 2015. source
- Republic of the Philippines, RA 11898 Extended Producer Responsibility Act (2022) and RA 9003 Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (2000).
- UNESCO World Heritage List, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras and Tubbataha Reefs. source
- Our World in Data, CO2 emissions per capita, 2024 source
- Low Carbon Power, Philippines electricity generation mix, 2024 source
- International Trade Administration (trade.gov), Philippines Energy Market source
- Wikipedia, Hudhud source
- Wikipedia, Megadiverse countries source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
The Philippines holds diverse living heritage across indigenous, Islamic and lowland communities. Folk dances such as tinikling, the bamboo dance, and the Maranao singkil are widely performed, alongside kulintang gong music and rondalla string ensembles. In the Cordillera the Ifugao still chant the Hudhud, and the Maranao keep the Darangen epic, both inscribed by UNESCO, while babaylan and anito ancestral traditions persist among many indigenous groups. Weaving, tattooing and community rituals continue to carry ancestral meaning.
- Tinikling bamboo dance
- singkil, pandanggo and itik-itik
- kulintang gong music and rondalla
- Hudhud chants of the Ifugao
- Darangen Maranao epic
- babaylan and anito ancestral traditions
- T'boli and Cordillera weaving and tattoo traditions.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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