An Alternative name for the pacific Rim is the Ring of Fire since the entire island chain from Kamchatka down to Indonesia is highly volcanic, with many hundreds of volcanoes dotting the landscape, 22 of them presently known to be active, The Philippines is a fully paid-up member of this club, Much of the landscape is characterized by these volcanoes, their slopes sweeping up in graceful curves, gently at first but then ever steeper towards the summit, towering ominously above the surrounding countryside or coast. Arguably the most spectacular of these is Mount Mayon, an almost perfect 'textbook, conical volcano looming above the city of Legazpi in southern Luzon. Unfortunately, it is also the liveliest, experiencing regular, but relatively small eruptions every few years. The biggest and deadliest eruption in recent times, however, was that Pinatubo in northern Luzon which exploded with devstating effect in 1991 after lying dormant for over 400 years. Fortunately, however, most of the time the volcanoes simply lend a dramatic, and often stunningly beautiful, aspect to the landscape. They are natural features to be admired and explored, although they should always also be treated with respect and some caution. All this volcanism is closely linked to the immense seismic activity that rumbles under the Philippines, which is the result of huge tectonic forces at work in the Earth's crust. The country sits on its own relatively small tectonic plate, Which is gradually being crushed between the very much larger Eurasian and Australasian plates, steadily pushing the island ever upwards. The result is a characteristically mountains landscape criss-crossed by fault lines and pockmarked with volcanoes. The highest peaks reach nearly 3,000 m, the tallest of them being Mount Apo at 2,956 m an inactive volcano in southern Mindanao.
Top: The shattered and flooded crater of Mount Pinatuboseen over a decade after its massive 1991 eruption.
Below: Mount Mayon, the Philippines' most active volcano, towers threateningly above the city of Legazpi, in southern Luzon
Left: Ardent Hot Spring, a popular bathing spot on the slopes of Mount Hibok-Hibok, an active volcano on Camiguin Island, off the north coasts of Mindanao is one the benign gifts of a volcanic landscape.
Below: Seen from the rim of Taal caldera, the little Taal Volcano sitting on an island in Lake Taal, looks quite innocuous. In fact, it is one of the Philippines most dangerous volacanoes.
Top: A gigantic tree surrounded by bamboo, growing in lowland rainforest in Subic Bay, Northern Luzon.
Below: The instantly recognizable Pompadour Green-Pigeon, Treron pompodora , is a quite common resident of many Philippines forest, particularly at the forest edges.
Top right: The Philippine Tarsier 'Tarsius syrichta'. at 8 cm long is one the world's smallest primates, Its is unique to Bohol and Mindanao but is related to a Tarsier in Borneo.
Below right: A young Philippine Dear, Russa Mariana , species spread thinly across much of the Phlippines.
Below left: This tangle of vegetation in dense rainforest, in El Nido Palawan, is typical of the Philippines natural vegetation, as it would be across much of the country were in not for human activity
Above: A typical rural scene, a stream flowing through verdant forest as it drops down out of the mountains interior. Seen on the slopes of Mount Hibok-Hibok, on Camiguin Island, Mindanao.
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