Fires & burning
Slash-and-burn clearing shows up as heat within hours. We catch the thermal signature before the smoke even settles.
NASA VIIRS · ~3h latency
Satellite eyes on the last frontier
Live satellite monitoring of deforestation, fires, and nickel mining across Palawan, Philippines.
Palawan Watch reads the same satellites that circle the planet every few hours, and tells you the moment a forest is cleared, a fire is lit, or a hillside is opened up for mining. No noise. Just the signal that someone needs to know.
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What we watch for
We don't process raw imagery or guess. We listen to the global alert systems that already scan Palawan on every satellite pass, and surface only what matters, for the whole province, from Coron down to Balabac.
Slash-and-burn clearing shows up as heat within hours. We catch the thermal signature before the smoke even settles.
Radar sees through the monsoon clouds that blind ordinary cameras for weeks, so a forest cut in the rain still gets noticed.
Open pits and bare-earth clearings stand out against the canopy. New roads cut into intact forest are often the first sign.
Real satellites, right now
Every dot is a real detection from NASA and Global Forest Watch — an actual satellite pass over the whole province. When the map is quiet, there were no new detections in the latest window. Toggle the NASA fire layer to see the raw thermal data the way the satellite records it. This is the same feed that powers your alerts.
What we're watching
These are the major nickel mining, processing, and forest-clearing sites Palawan Watch tracks, in Palawan first, and across the wider Philippines. Each is paired with near-real-time fire detections and forest-loss alerts. Sources: Wikipedia, PCIJ mine profiles, EJAtlas, MGB MIMAROPA, and operator filings.
One of the largest nickel mines in the Philippines (~60 Mt ore). The orange laterite footprint is visible from orbit. Operating since the 1970s; the mined area expanded through the 2010s.
PalawanHydrometallurgical processing plant adjacent to Rio Tuba mine; tailings and processing footprint.
PalawanPart of a ~2,176 ha tenement spanning Narra and Sofronio Española.
PalawanNorthern portion of the Citinickel tenement; clearing on the Narra side.
Palawan~288 ha mining area; MPSA period 2007-2031. Newer expansion secured 2025.
PalawanNickel operation in Brooke's Point; first shipments in 2025. The Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape lies nearby.
PalawanOne of the world's largest nickel mines (~70k tonnes Ni in 2023). Open-pit laterite footprint along the Claver coast.
Surigao~5,220 ha tenement on the Dinagat Islands; >110 Mt resource. Satellite imagery shows substantial cleared, bare-earth land cover across parts of the island group.
DinagatIsland-scale nickel extraction; satellite imagery shows cleared, bare-earth land cover across much of the small island's interior.
SurigaoOpen-pit nickel-laterite operation, ~4,799 ha tenement (MPSA 016-93-XIII). One of the clearest satellite before/after cases in Caraga.
SurigaoNickel-laterite operation, ~4,376 ha. Part of the dense Claver-Carrascal nickel belt along the Caraga coast.
SurigaoGold-copper open-pit + underground mine, OceanaGold's first FTAA under the 1995 Mining Act. The pit and tailings storage sit in the Kasibu highlands.
Nueva VizcayaFormer copper-gold mine (operated 1969–1996). A 1996 tailings release entered the Boac River, an extensively documented and litigated environmental event; tailings were also discharged into Calancan Bay in earlier decades. (See public reporting and government records.)
MarinduqueThe forest backbone of Luzon. Clearing for the Kaliwa Dam, logging roads, and lowland conversion is visible along the range's edges. This is forest loss, not mining.
Sierra MadreCoastal magnetite (black-sand) extraction across seven northern Cagayan municipalities; associated with shoreline change.
CagayanCluster of nickel laterite operations on Luzon's west coast. River and coastal siltation in the area has been reported in news coverage and local studies.
ZambalesLarge planned copper-gold project (~10,000 ha tenement) in the highlands between four provinces. Environmental assessments have estimated old-growth forest within the project footprint.
South CotabatoWestern Sierra Madre foothills above the Pantabangan reservoir; quarrying and clearing on the watershed slopes.
Nueva EcijaSite descriptions are observational and drawn from public sources: satellite alerts (Global Forest Watch, NASA FIRMS), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), operator filings, and reporting by outlets such as PCIJ and EJAtlas. Land-cover changes shown are derived from satellite imagery and are not, by themselves, a statement about the legality or compliance of any operation. Operators and readers who believe anything here is inaccurate are welcome to write to [email protected] and we will review and correct as needed.
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The people protecting Palawan
Across the province, organizations and communities are defending Palawan's forests, seas, and peoples. Here are some of them.