Forestry contributes a significant role in nation building. As the centerpiece of the country's natural resource base and ecosystem, the forestry sector influences to a great extent the course of the economy particularly in the area of agricultural productivity and industrial growth. More importantly, the sector defines the health of the environment.

        It is the objective of the Philippine Master Plan for Forest Development to have the country's forests under sustainable forest management. In this regard, the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) has focused its efforts and initiatives towards the achievement of SFM not only to address national concerns but to respond to international and regional commitments as welll.

        The following achievements of the FMB for the past year under the leadership of DENR Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Jr. reflect its continuing commitment to pursue SFM initiatives in the face of current thrusts in environment and natural resources governance:

        1. Formulation of Relevant Forest Policies

        Sustainable Forest Management is the main policy thrust to ensure the long-term stability of Philippine forest resources. The FMB has formulated several policies to advance the merits of this landmark policy particularly on the participation of stakeholders in the management and development of forest resources and promotion of social justice for indigenous peoples and other forest dwellers. At the heart of the SFM is the Bureau's move to push for the delineation of the final forest line to finally establish appropriate land uses for better management and strategies.

        The FMB has been in close coordination with various stakeholders including those from the academe, NGOs, members of both Houses on deliberations with regard to the provisions of the SFM before it is enacted into a bill and finally signed into law.

        2. Support to Poverty Alleviation

        One of the mandates of the FMB is to address the twin goals of poverty reduction and environmental rehabilitation in upland forest areas. On this, the FMB partners with stakeholders including local government units (LGUs) in the spirit of participatory management and enhanced ecogovernance.

The Steering Committee on Sustainable Upland Development (SUD) as mandated under EO 606 was convened by the DENR on October 19, 2007 and chaired by Secretary Atienza. It was emphasized that the primary objective of SUD is poverty alleviation of the poor upland farmers. The identified activities to include in the action plan are as follows: identification of pilot sites; orientation of the newly elected local chief executives on the SUD; identification of areas for co-management; preparation of template for the co-management agreement and determination of the readiness (criteria) of LGUs to adopt SUD. The CBFM Division is now working on these documents. Further, the FMB continued to provide technical assistance in the preparation of the CBFM regional action plan as provided for under Memorandum Order 2007-10.


In July 2008, the FMB launched the project "Enhancing Natural Resources Management through Enterprise Development in the Philippines" to be funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID). The project supports the hunger mitigation and poverty alleviation program of the Arroyo Administration. It aims to facilitate the development of community enterprises in six selected sites where livelihood projects are being implemented. The project will provide assistance to scale-up these livelihood projects to enterprise level and thus, create more employment opportunities and additional sources of income to local communities in the uplands.

        3. Issuance of Tenure Instruments

        FMB aims to transform farmers and other forest land users into productive partners of the government in forest development. In issuing various forms of tenurial instruments, the Bureau works to put all forest areas under appropriate forest management schemes. A total of seven (7) tenure instruments covering 40, 866 hectares of forestlands, were approved by Secretary Atienza:

One (1) Forest Land Grazing Management Agreement (FLGMA)
One (1) Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism Purposes (FLAgT)
Two (2) Community-Based Forest Management Agreements (CBFMAs)
Three (3) Integrated Forest Management Agreements (IFMAs)

        4. Management of Watersheds

        Watersheds help sustain the country's life support systems as well provide the socioeconomic base through the utilization of watershed resources. It is important therefore to protect and improve their water quality, quantity and security.

        For the past year, a total of 14 Watershed Management Plans were reviewed and evaluated. The Plan serves as a guide for the sustainable development and management of the various ecosystems (forest, grassland, upland, lowland, urban, coastal and marine areas) in a watershed towards the attainment of basic social and economic services such as domestic, irrigation and commercial water needs without having to compromise the sustainability of vital ecosystems.

        5. Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector-Project-Watershed Management Sub- Component (SPISP-WMS)

        The Watershed Management Sub-component (WMS) is a sub-component of the Environmental and Social Measures of the NIA led Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector Project (SPISP). Funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), SPISP-WMS is a five year project which primarily aims to maintain or improve the hydrologic integrity of the watershed areas, thus, avoid any depreciation of the downstream benefits of the irrigation systems.

        For the period, the following activities have been conducted: site monitoring & evaluation of five (5) Central Project Monitoring Office (CPMO); distribution of IEC materials (posters/flyers/); strengthening of People's Organization; and production of about 50,000 high-value agronomic and forest crop trees; and maintenance of high-value agroforestry plantations and natural vegetation strips covering 865.52 hectares.

        6. Advancing the Application of Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) for Effective Low-Cost Forest Restoration

        Assisted Natural Regeneration is a practical, cost-effective approach to rehabilitation of degraded forest ecosystems by promoting prevention of fire, control of fire-prone grasses and nurturing of young tree seedlings that sprout from seeds carried in by the wind or birds.

        For the period, review and assessment of ANR Project was undertaken, participated by all concerned implementers and partners. The output is the revised ANR Workplan for CY 2008 - June 2009. Moreover, the Bureau, in cooperation with DENR Region 7 Officials and Staff, organized and monitored the conduct of the 2nd Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) Training in Bohol. The training yielded the following outputs: gathered baseline information for monitoring of ANR vegetation and prepared workplans for the restoration of watershed and CBFM areas in Bohol Province with the application of ANR technology.

        Further, an official newsletter as an IEC material will be produced entitled "Assisted Natural Regeneration Newsletter". The composition of the editorial Team was also formed to provide guidance in the smooth operation of the newsletter.

        7. Rationalization of the Wood Industry

        Sustainable forest management efforts include the sustainable development of forest resources to upgrade the wood-based industry and become locally and globally competitive that would also in the process open up local employment opportunities.

        Thirteen (13) regions submitted their Regional Wood Processing Rationalization Plan (RWPRP) in response to the directive of the DENR Secretary under DENR Administrative Order No. 2007-13 ("Lifting the Moratorium of Wood Processing Plants") and consequently, DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2007-09 ("Clarifications on the implementation of DAO 2007-13: "Lifting of the Moratorium on New Wood Processing Plants (WPPs)).

        Regional offices are required to submit its RWPRP prior to approval of new processing plants. The said plan is used to evaluate the feasibility of establishing new WPPs in the region. Among the information required to be included in the plan are the region's forest resources, wood processing situation and wood demand analysis. A development plan should also be included to discuss the recommended number of WPPs to be established as well as competitiveness analysis, raw material sourcing plan, monitoring and evaluation, among others.

        To date, the RWPPs of NCR and Region 8 are recommended for approval of the Secretary.

        8. Implementation of Computer - Generated Certificate of Timber Origin and Certificate of Lumber Origin (CTO/CLO)

        CTO/CLO Forms are vital management tool to monitor and track the interregional movement and legality of origin of locally produced forest products being transported within the country. The forms are now computer-generated to cater to regional requirements on time and have built-in tamper-proof measures.

        In January 2008, the FMB and the DENR - Management Information System developed the computer-based system in generating CTO/CLO forms that caters to the needs of the regional office on time. The CTO/CLO forms are important documents in the shipment and trade of forest products throughout the country.

        The FMB Operation Center working on a 24-hour shift, 7 days a week is responsible for the daily operation of the System. To date, a total of 910 CTO/CLO forms were confirmed by the FMB-OpCen with a corresponding volume of 65,601 cubic meters in the form of logs and 11,579,560 board feet in lumber form. Region 11 has been observed as the top producer of logs and lumber in the country.

        9. Adoption and Implementation of the Forestry Information System (FIS) for the Philippines

        The Adoption and Implementation of the Forestry Information System (FIS) for the Philippines Project aims to promote sustainable forest management through improved data collection and information process for sound policy formulation and decision making.

        To date, a total of 168 desktop computers with pre-installed Licensed Windows XP operating system were acquired comprising 79% of the total hardware requirements of the Project. In addition, 94% of the required number of Manifold System GIS Software had been acquired and now ready for distribution to the 16 regional offices. Likewise, FIS Database Management Technical Capability Workshops were conducted to support the acquisition of softwares.

        10. Mitigation of Climate Change

        Climate change mitigation may be accomplished through conservation of existing forest cover and establishment of forest and agro-forestry plantations. Pursuant to this objective, the FMB, as a member of the Inter-Agency Committee on Climate Change and also its Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC), evaluates all proposed Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects on afforestation and reforestatio which include in and out-sourced financing approaches for forest development. To date, the TEC has conducted scoping on the proposed CDM project of the Laguna Lake Development Authority and the National Power Corporation. Comments were submitted to concerned agencies for consideration.

        On the international scene, FMB Director Romeo T. Acosta attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia whereby lobbying for the inclusion of efforts in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in climate change mitigation and adaptation was recognized. This may lead to significant sustainable development benefits, and may generate a new financing stream for sustainable forest management in developing countries. Support for efforts to REDD has been included in the Bali Action Plan. The Plan mandates Parties to negotiate a post 2012 instrument, including possible financial incentives for forest-based climate change mitigation actions in developing countries.

        Including REDD in the Plan would pave the way for a range of actions to identify options and undertake efforts to address the drivers of deforestation. Towards this end, the Bureau made representation in a workshop held in June 2008 in Tokyo, Japan on Methodological Issues relating to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.

        11. Participation to the 2nd Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study

        The Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study (APFSOS II) which was held in October 2007 in Chaiang Mai, Thailand is a major international conference organized to strengthen its consultative and capacity-building processes by bringing together diverse stakeholders with varied expertise.

        Conference participants analyzed social, economic, institutional and technological changes occurring in the Asia-Pacific region and their impacts on forests for increased collaboration in addressing problems at the global, regional and sub-regional levels.

        The Philippines through the FMB submitted a comprehensive study on current state of forests and forestry in the country to that forum.

        12. Conduct of Philippine Peer Consultation Framework (PCF) Exercise

        The ASEAN PCF is a tool for regional cooperation and mutual learning whereby one ASEAN member country's forestry practice is assessed by other member states for the purpose of creating knowledge, learning and building capabilities.

        The FMB has initiated the conduct of Philippine PCF held from July 7-11, 2008 to obtain an assessment of the country's forest policy framework and forest policies as well as country compliance to regional and international commitments from the point of ASEAN member countries. The PCF exercise held in the Philippines would help in the formulation of appropriate strategies to further improve forest management in the country.