The last comprehensive update of land cover for the entire country was done in 1987 using SPOT satellite imagery (Swedish Space Corporation or SSC, 1988). Apart from the limitations of the methodology used and the technology available at that time, the data set is now more than 20 years old and since then, there has not been any publicly acceptable update on land cover nationwide.

Sylvia Miclat

About 10 years ago, a man named John Nance approached ESSC seeking community mapping assistance for the Tasaday community for ancestral domain application. A few years before that, the Philippines just passed a law that allowed ancestral domain titling for its indigenous peoples who live in many of the country's upland and coastal areas.