Module 1:

Introduction to Forest Governance

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:

Forest Governance Defined

Forest governance comprises rules, norms, principles and decision procedures with regards to the
use and conservation of forests and affects the type and level of involvement of local
communities in the management of forests.

Forest policy

The relationship between people and the natural world. It’s a delicate balancing act. If you’ve
ever gone on a hike in the woods, you know that forests are beautiful places, but they offer us a
whole lot more than just good looks. They also provide wildlife habitat, wood products,
medicine, carbon storage, clean drinking water and a host of other benefits. The environment
gives to us, but we also need to give back to the environment. In order to continue getting those
benefits, we need to be good stewards and responsibly manage our forests. This is what forest
policy is all about.

Forest policy consists of the laws and regulations that guide the protection and management of
our nation’s forests. Forest policies help maintain healthy forest ecosystems, which are essential
for working towards a sustainable future and improving our quality of life.

Fact Summary

The Philippines is a democratic republic ruled by a President. Election of the President and Vice
President is by election every 6 years.

Geography, Climate and Population

Spread from 5° to 20° north of the equator, the country has a total area of 300,000 square
kilometres, and contains over 7,000 islands. The greatest distance from north to south is 1,854
km, and from east to west is 1,107 km. The Philippines lies about 100 km from the coast of
mainland Asia. Most of the land is mountainous with volcanoes throughout the country.
The climate is hot and moist year round, but is cooler in the highland areas. It is hottest from
March to May.

The population of the Philippines in 1995 was 70 million. This is projected to increase to 94.5
million by 2010 and to double in 30 years.

Economy

The increasing political stability of the country is fuelling significant growth and business output.
GNP per capita is US$ 1130 (1996). Forestry as a contributor to GDP has declined significantly
from 12% in 1980 to less than 1% in 1994. Other major industries include manufacturing - about
one third of GDP - and agriculture.

Adverse natural events, including the eruption of Mt Pinatubo and a major drought, have,
however placed strain on the economic performance recently.

Forests

The forest area of the Philippines is estimated to have declined from 12 million hectares in 1960
to a current level of about 5.7 million hectares (which includes less than 1 million hectares of
virgin forest largely confined to very steep and inaccessible areas). It is difficult to obtain
accurate land use data as all areas over 18 degrees of slope are classified as forest regardless of
whether any tree cover is present. The official figure of forest area is about 33% of the land area.
As indicated above, this is not supported by other data.

Harvests have reduced from 6.4 million m 3 in 1980 to 0.8 million m3 in 1995. The reduction has
been the result of a number of factors including a Government ban on the export of logs in 1986,
a ban on the export of timber in 1989, and a Forestry Master Plan introduced in 1991 banning the
harvest of virgin forests. This level of harvest looks set to continue in the foreseeable future.
However this harvest level is inadequate to support domestic demand and the country has moved
from being at least self sufficient to being a net importer of logs and lumber.

Most remaining virgin forests have been given protected status, but many of these areas are in
critical condition and remain threatened due to inadequate protection resulting from lack of funds
and lack of political will.

Apparent roundwood consumption has fallen dramatically in the past decade giving credence to
the possibility of the country's forests being close to economic extinction.

In spite of these bans the rate of deforestation remained at about 150,000 hectares in the 1980s.
Deforestation is caused by shifting cultivation, landuse conversion, forest fires, illegal logging
and 40 million m3 of fuelwood harvested each year. Fuelwood demand continues to be strong,
further exacerbating the critical position the forests are in. Fuelwood harvesting is believed to be
seriously impacting on the remaining commercial forests.
In spite of this rather gloomy picture there are also some success stories. A total of 1.4 million
hectares of plantation forest has been established with the Master Plan aiming to have additional
plantations of about 3 million hectares by 2015, although this goal may be difficult to achieve.

Forest Policy

History and Trends

The history of forest policy in the Philippines can be divided into 4 main periods: a period of low
exploitation during colonial, wartime and postwar eras; a period of increased exploitation for
development during the post-independence era; a peak of logging and concession exploitation
during the 1960s and 1970s; and one of building a forest products industry in the 1970s and
1980s.

The first period was largely dominated by Spanish Royal Decrees which focused on gaining
revenue and keeping the Spanish navy supplied with timber. The population was small and thus
pressure on the timber resource was limited.

Following the take-over of the country by the United States in 1898, the American Congress
enacted the first Forest Act in 1904. This was to form the basis of forestry legislation until 1975.

The second period coincided with independence (1946) and the need to develop the country and
its economy. The new constitution provided that all timber lands belonged to the state. Forest
policy did not change much but greater emphasis was placed on the production of timber. This
meant more revenue to the government, much needed to accelerate development.

This period also saw the change to modern mechanised technology and hence the ability to have
a major impact on the forest over a large area. Also introduced was the application of selective
logging of the dipterocarp forests. Prior to this development, logging occurred without much
concern for any future harvest from the forest.

The third period was the peak period of exploitation of the Philippine forests, starting in the early
1960s. Harvests from the forest rose rapidly with little concern for long term sustainability of this
harvest. The impetus for this "rush to destruction" came from three sources. The large multi-
national logging companies were able to make enormous profits from the continued growth of
harvesting volumes, often in association with local business people; the almost insatiable
demand for logs from Japan in particular; and the government. The government almost took
pride in the ever-increasing harvest which meant more foreign exchange and increasing revenue.
By 1969, forest products constituted 33% of total export revenues, while at the same time local
and international foresters were warning of the inevitability of the harvest diminishing if there
was not a significant change in policy.

Ironically much of the revenue was being used to provide agricultural lands for rural populations
who had no other way of making a living.
The fourth period saw a move towards a local forest products industry. During the 1960s and
1970s, as much as 80% of the recorded log production was exported as logs. Processing into
lumber and plywood was almost seen as a residue industry.

In 1975 the government began a rationalisation programme for the industry, part of which
required concession holders to do some processing. The other major component was a ban on log
exports. These two components had what in hindsight was a predictable effect. A number of
small, generally inefficient mills were built and grossly under-utilised, simply to comply with the
new rules, while at the same time the companies continued with what they were good at and
which was very profitable - exporting logs.

In 1979 a further attempt at restricting unprocessed log exports was made, with similar effect,
and again in 1980 a proposed total log export ban was postponed indefinitely. It is said that large
scale graft and corruption in the public sector contributed a great deal to the failure of attempts to
control the harvest of the forests and the subsequent processing of logs.

To exemplify this was the banning of logging in three regions in 1985, which should have
resulted in saving about 500,000 m3 of timber for the next two years' harvests. It is generally
believed that the savings did not materialise because of rampant timber smuggling in banned
areas.

Current Forest Policy

A major turning point in the history of the country and of forest policy was the democratic
elections held in 1986, and the end of martial law and Presidential Decrees which had dominated
life and policy development until this change. Key changes are highlighted below with regard to
decentralization, resource tenure and forest development.

Decentralisation

The new form of government looked to implement a range of changes including decentralisation
of powers and much greater involvement of the people in decision making. The office directly
responsible for administration of forest lands is the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR). The legislative process includes open debate by elected representatives and
public hearings to discuss proposed legislation. As in most countries the government department
responsible for a portfolio has traditionally taken the lead in the development of new policy.
Changes are beginning to show in this area also with much greater input being encouraged from
NGO's and other interested groups.

The decentralisation process to involve the 200 regional, provincial and community offices has
resulted in much more robust discussion of policy matters, and much more robust policy.

Resource Tenure

Many of the problems associated with the past large scale destruction of the forest resource can
to some extent be traced back to a combination of land and concession tenure issues, and lack of
ability or will to enforce the requirements of the concessions. In the situation where a short term
concession is held or there is no long term security of tenure to land, there exists a clear
economic signal to extract as much benefit as possible in the shortest time possible for the least
cost, and to ensure no long term obligations are entered into.

This was exactly the case in the Philippines where the government held title to all forest land
(effectively by decree) and was open to the graft and corruption which reportedly became
rampant prior to the elections in 1986. Rural land users had no title and thus lacked any incentive
to consider the long term sustainable output from the site. In fact to exacerbate matters they were
not permitted to make commercial use of the wood and non-wood forest products, except with
permission from the government.

From this it is evident that in common with many other countries, there is an urgent need to
address the issue of land tenure in relation to the rural people and their rights to use the land and
forest resources. Much of the post-1986 policy development has been developed with this matter
in mind, with ongoing reforms to tenure issues. With consent from government, private
individuals and entities may use forest land for traditional forestry purposes, pasture, agriculture
and other pursuits under short term permits and long term leases. In upland areas, occupancy is
legitimised through issuance of Certificates of Stewardship Contracts (CSC) which grant a 25
year tenure, renewable to 50 years. The grantees can receive assistance in agroforestry
development and are encouraged to plant trees on at least 20% of the land they occupy.

Licences to exploit natural forest are covered by 25 year Timber Lease Agreements, designed to
encourage greater compliance with the requirements of the licence. These terms include the
requirement to replant some areas in trees following harvest for a subsequent crop from the land.

Forest Development

A Master Plan for Forest Development (MPFD) was formulated in 1990. A new set of
regulations, including a draft of the Forest Code, a National Integrated Protected Area System
Act, and an Environmental Code have been introduced to conserve the forest resources and
address the problems of environmental degradation.

Pursuant to the MPFD, approximately one million hectares of residual logged-over forest has
been targeted for management under the Community Forestry Programme over the next 25 years.
This programme aims to involve local communities in the management of the forest resource and
to encourage the large companies to focus more on processing of the products produced by the
community projects.

In 1992 a complete ban on the logging of the remaining old growth forest was introduced. From
that date all timber production was to shift to residual forest areas. Concurrent with this ban, all
old growth forest, national parks and other protected areas are to be placed under an Integrated
Protected Area System (IPAS), with the aim of preserving biodiversity and environmental
values. Included in the IPAS is management to ensure no exploitation or occupancy of the areas
and the proposed management regime for buffer areas to the actual IPAS.
Corporate sector involvement in the growing of industrial plantations is also encouraged through
the Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) Programme. The government, having recognised the need
for an ongoing supply of forest products, has accepted that these will have to increasingly come
from plantations rather than the natural forest estate. This is not to suggest that the natural forest
will not continue to be a major source of forest products, but the reality is that there is a need for
intensive management of all forest resources to meet the substantial demand that exists.

The IFP grants leases over large areas of denuded land for 25 years, renewable to 50 years, to
private entities at minimal rates for the establishment of plantations. Investment costs can be
written off as expenses. Forest charges are levied on timber harvests at rates much lower than
those prevailing on harvests from natural forests. Plantation produce can be exported in raw or
processed form, whereas produce from natural forests can only be exported in a processed form.

Rattan is given special consideration in the development of forest policy due to its importance as
an export earner and importance to rural people. Rattan furniture accounts for about 30% of
export earnings from the forest industry.

The new forest policy gives priority to tribal communities in awarding of rattan-gathering
permits. The philosophy behind this is to increase the returns to the tribal communities by
pressuring the rattan using factories to negotiate directly with the tribal gatherers, rather than a
series of middle men. The desired outcome of this process is higher returns to the tribal people,
who in turn will value the rattan higher, and thus will have a direct financial incentive to ensure
careful, sustainable management of the resource. In addition to this approach, there are now
mechanisms in place to assist tribal groups to become rattan processors in their own right.

Philippines - Summary

In recent times the most significant change has been the end of martial law and the election of a
democratic government. While problems such as graft and corruption do not instantly disappear
there has been progress in this area. This flows throughout the forest policy area in that
government reforms are more likely to be implemented. The thrust of the policy reforms has
been to:

 involve the people affected by decisions in the decision making process to a much greater
extent;

 address the pressing problem of land and forest resource tenure. By giving certainty of tenure
resource users are encouraged to manage the resources in a sustainable manner with the
knowledge that what they do will impact on their own future;

 provide encouragement and assistance for community based development of forest resources,
while at the same time ensuring that there is a place for the large companies which can provide
the necessary capital;

 protect the remaining virgin forest areas, and provide greater protection to remaining residual
forest areas for long term wood production;
 encourage the development of plantations to supply future wood needs. This encouragement
includes tax incentives and exemptions from export restrictions.

Towards 2010

While considerable progress has been, made this must be seen in context. The Philippines has
moved from being a major exporter of wood in both raw and processed form to a country facing
a significant shortage of supply.

The recent changes in forest policy conform to the increasing recognition that government decree
and bureaucracy cannot achieve sustainable forest management, and it is only through and by the
people who are affected that a long term solution can be found. The "people-oriented" approach
is expected to continue to be the focus of policy reform.

In particular, consideration should be given to addressing the following:

 The capture of forest rents and royalties: there is need for further reform, with records to be
made fully auditable. Without the ability to audit the result, there is little confidence in the
outcome from any party, and the system is left open to the plague of corruption that has existed
in the past.

 Greater education and enforcement of compliance in the area of forest conservation: simply
prohibiting the harvest of forest products (wood or non-wood) does not cause the activity to
cease. There needs to be greater education as to why these steps have been taken and greater
enforcement to ensure they are obeyed. The education process in many cases will require
exploration of alternative sources of supply or income for the people involved.

 Re-examination of government policies that encourage the destruction of forest resources for
whatever reason: agricultural production is the main concern here 2 and reform should promote
improved use of land rather than simply relying on being able to clear more land.

2 Destruction of mangrove forests for fish ponds has also been a major cause of forest
destruction to date.

 Research to define the forest resources remaining and to show how best to manage them for
the multiplicity of goods they are expected to provide: this research need includes such
fundamental matters as forest ecology and management techniques, through to the need to
understand the economic and sociological forces at work in the country. This complex web of
dependency of rural communities on the forest needs to be understood and incorporated in policy
initiatives.

Policy reform needs to take the people with it rather than be thrust upon them. As such the
initiatives already taken to develop community based forestry programmes are the blueprint for
future developments.
The country is unlikely to be able to complete all these tasks in isolation. It is thus imperative
that expert assistance is sought to complement the work of internal agencies. The issue of
sustainable forest management is not one that the Philippines must face alone. It is indeed an
issue of international importance. To find satisfactory solutions to the complex problems being
faced requires a spirit of cooperation, assistance and collaboration.

References:

[Link]
%20country,Forestry%20Code%20of%20the%20Philippines%22.&text=263%20(E.O
%20263)%20or%20Community,of%20the%20country's%20forest%20resources.

[Link]/publication/273768835_Defining_and_assessing_forest_governance

[Link]

Learning Activity: Due on March 12, 2021

1. Look around you. What issues in the Philippine forest governance can you find?
Enumerate them.

2. Who are responsible for these forest policy issues you see?

3. How do you think these issues should be addressed?

4. As future forester what policy do you recommend to address forest degradation?

Prepared By:

Eric D. Bimmoy
Assistant Professor I