Current program thrusts in upland development
Human greed, abuse and misuse of the country's forest resources
have resulted in the sad state of our uplands today. Resource depletion,
environmental degradation, inequitable access to resources, tenurial issues,
upland poverty and the continuous influx of lowland migrants into the uplands
are among the current issues in natural resources management.
In recent decades, the Philippines witnessed an unprecedented
commercial exploitation of the timber resources leading to an annual rate of
deforestation reported to have reached an average of 119,000 hectares during the
declining years of the timber boom between 1969 to 1987. From a leading exporter
of precious "Philippine Mahogany", the Philippines has become a timber deficit
country where the cost of a board foot of lumber is beyond the means of an
average wage eamer. The disappearance of forests has resulted in the loss of
jobs and livelihood in neighboring communities; destructive floods and drought
during wet and dry seasons, respectively; and, landslide and siltation of rivers
and dams. Other consequences of deforestation have become common occurrences in
many parts of the country.
Through the years, landlessness and unemployment have driven
hundreds of thousands of poor families in the lowlands to migrate and eke out a
living in upland areas where they have become "squatters" by operation of law.
In many cases, these have resulted in the total destruction of remaining forest
vegetation in the area. The land has become marginally productive as the top
soil continues to be lost through erosion brought about by improper agricultural
practices. The result is poverty and a degraded upland environment affecting not
only the people who subsist in these areas, but even the poor farmers in the
lowlands who likewise suffer from the inevitable consequences of forest
destruction. Latest estimates show that as much as 8.25 million hectares are now
severely eroded.
In view of these problems, the government has in recent years
formulated programs directed at arresting resource depletion and environmental
degradation while searching for solutions to the issues of secured access to
land, poverty alleviation and increased sustainable productivity. Among the
major programs being implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources are me Integrated Social Forestry Program (ISFP) in noncritical areas
of the public domain that are under various forms of cultivation; the National
Forestation Program (NFP) in degraded areas and in residual stands that are
inadequately stocked; the Forest Land Management Agreement (FLMA) in newly
reforested areas under the NFP that need to be maintained and cared for; and,
the Community Forestry Program (CFP) in residual forest lands occupied by
farming families.
1. INTEGRATED SOCIAL FORESTRY PROGRAM (ISFP)
Initiated about a decade ago, the ISFP draws strength from the
DENR Upland Development Program (UDP) started by the Bureau of Forest
Development in 1980 which was aimed at distilling lessons and developing
methodologies for participatory management of the uplands. The ISFP incorporates
the best features of three people-oriented forestry programs implemented in the
1970's, i.e., Forest Occupancy Management, Communal Tree Farming and Family
Approach to Reforestation. The major features include granting longterm tenurial
arrangements to qualified applicants, technical and modest material assistance
and institution building aimed at developing capability for community-based
resource management.
ISFP addresses the twin problems of rural poverty and ecological
stability in occupied forest lands. Through ISFP, forest land occupants are
provided secure access to land as well as technical and material aid to make the
land productive without depleting it. Secure land tenure comes through either
the Certificate of Stewardship Contracts (CSCs) for individuals, or the
Community Forest Stewardship Agreements (CFSAs) for community organizations. In
both cases, farm families are granted renewable 25-year leases on the public
land which they occupy and cultivate. In the first years of the lease, the
farmer receives technical assistance for developing self-sufficiency and
sustainable farming practices.
The program provides assistance in the areas of agroforestry,
land tenure and community organizing. Community organizing is applied to
mobilize groups to obtain stewardship contracts, promote agroforestry and
soil/water conservation and build local institutions. ISFP emphasizes
improvement of existing farmer practices, not introduction of new ones except in
situations where such may be necessary. Participatory strategies are used to
gather data, diagnose field situations and monitor technical problems. Farm
visits and training courses develop farmers' skills in agroforestry and
organization. In the process, community leaders are prepared to take
responsibilities for continued development after the end of the project,
tentatively set at five years.
Recently, the implementation of the Local Government Code
obligated the DENR to devolve to the Local Government Units (LGUs) the
management of all ISF project sites except some of the "model sites" (one model
site per province) and the UDP sites. These projects will remain under the care
of the DENR for use as learning sites where new technologies and approaches are
expected to be generated. These sites will also be used as training areas for
LGU technicians and other development workers as part of the outreach program of
the DENR.
2. NATIONAL FORESTATION PROGRAM (NFP)
In 1988, the DENR implemented the NFP which consists of three
major components, namely: reforestation, watershed rehabilitation and timber
stand improvement. The reforestation component is concerned with the replanting
of denuded forest lands with indigenous and exotic forest species, including
fruit trees, bamboos and minor forest species. One of the reforestation
strategies used is assisted natural regeneration (ANR) where augmentation
planting of climax species is done to improve future yield at minimum cost. The
timber stand improvement (TSI) involves the removal of over-mature and inferior
trees to improve growth in logged-over areas. Reforestation, ANR and TSI are
approaches used in rehabilitation of identified critical watersheds and
catchment areas.
DENR enters into contract with upland settler families,
community and civic/religious organizations, entrepreneurs, local and other
government offices and other NGOs for any of the above NFP activities in areas
identified by DENR. The contract may be for survey, mapping, planning, community
organizing/training, monitoring and evaluation or actual comprehensive site
development of a given area.
3. FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT (FLMA)
FLMA provides a long-term tenure to the people who plant and
care for trees in newly reforested areas by granting farmers access to these
areas for purposes consistent with sound ecological principles. When the
reforestation contract terminates after three years, the contractor may apply
for an FLMA if at least 80 percent of the trees planted are surviving and
properly maintained. Family contractors must organize into associations or
cooperatives covering a total of at least 100 hectares. DENR employs local NGOs
to help organize communities and train them in forest management.
Like stewardship contracts under ISFP, FLMAs are for 25 years,
renewable for another 25 years. The contractor may use the area to grow and
harvest minor forest products or interplant cash crops, fruit trees and other
agricultural crops using sound agroforestry practices. The contractor may also
harvest, process and sell timber when the trees mature, following the principles
of sustained yield forest management. In return, the contractor provides DENR 30
percent of the total proceeds until the whole cost of reforesting the area has
been recovered. The proceeds will be deposited into a "trust fund" for expanding
reforestation activities.
4. COMMUNITY FORESTRY PROGRAM (CFP)
The need to democratize access in the use of the forests and
allow organized upland communities to benefit from the resource compelled the
government to adopt policies that would enable communities to protect, manage
and rehabilitate fragmented residual and old growth forests. CFP is emerging as
a community-based approach in managing certain portions of abandoned, canceled
and expired areas of Timber License Agreements (TLAs).
CFP makes upland dwellers stewards of residual forest areas.
Communities are awarded 25-year Community Forestry Management Agreement (CFMA).
Again, these agreements are renewable for another 25 years if mutually agreeable
to DENR and the community. The community organization can harvest, process and
sell forest products from the area according to a management plan submitted to
DENR beforehand. The plan must comply with prescribed rules and follow
principles of sustained yield management.
Under the CFP, DENR assists the holder organization to set up
and strengthen the community organization. This includes on-the-job training in
resource inventory, preparation of forest management and conservation plans and
developing livelihood opportunities. For this assistance, DENR employs qualified
NGOs.
ROLE OF NGOs
Through the years, the NGOs have been doing a proactive role in
upland development through advocacy, training and technical assistance. However,
the latter part of the 1980s offered greater opportunities for their direct
involvement in the implementation of government programs such as reforestation,
social forestry and community forestry. In addition to their traditional roles,
the NGOs are now involved in technical work such as survey. and mapping;
resource appraisal and planning; community organizing; reforestation; resource
management; and, harvesting, processing and sale of forest products.
A TOOL IN UPLAND DEVELOPMENT
Agroforestry is an important tool in the development of the
uplands. If practiced properly, it helps promote soil and water conservation
while increasing productivity and sustainability of upland farms to the benefit
of the people.
There are traditional astute agroforestry practices being
employed mostly by indigenous people in the uplands. The great majority of the
population, however, remains in need of improving their system of farming the
uplands to increase income and protect the environment.
Meanwhile, the number of people being engaged in promoting
appropriate agroforestry technologies has dramatically increased in recent
years. They come from national government agencies, various nongovernment
organizations and, more recently, technicians of local government units to whom
the upland development functions have been devolved.
This Agroforestry Technology Information Kit (ATIK) has been
developed for use by these types of development workers as a quick reference. It
consists of simple, illustrated technologies being used in various parts of the
country. It is a product of a week-long materials production workshop among
agroforestry practitioners in the government and nongovernment organizations,
farmer groups and the academe.
TABLE 1: SUMMARY PROFILE OF DENR'S PEOPLE - ORIENTED UPLAND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.
