Forest Management Bureau

For the last four (4) decades, forest resources in the Philippine had steadily declined leading to ecological degradation and rural poverty. From about 15 million hectares in 1950, its forest cover has been reduced to about 4.7 million hectares at present, of which only 800,000 hectares are primary forests. The Philippine is now considered as one of the most severely deforested countries in the tropics and one of those countries with the lowest per capita forest cover in the Asia Pacific region. Reforestation and plantation development continue at a very slow space, resulting to decline in sustainable wood supply and making the country a net importer of wood. Over the years, the contribution of the Philippine forestry sector to Gross National Product (GNP) has continuously declined.

In response to the alarming condition of the forestry sector, the Philippine has embraced the concept of Sustainable Forest Management as the main policy thrust in order to guarantee the long-term stability of its forest resources. Thus, SFM envisions reversing the current critical state of forestry in the Philippines.

The policy shift to Sustainable Forest Management is largely attributable to the implementation of measures embodied in the 1987 Constitution; the Philippine Strategy for Sustainable Development and the Philippine Agenda 21; the Master Plan for Forestry Development; and the adoption of the community-based forest management and watershed/ecosystem approaches as the main strategies for SFM. These key measures were supported by various policy and institutional reforms embodied in the major forestry programs and projects supported by multi-lateral and bilateral funding institutions.

To measure progress toward sustainable forest management, the DENR formulated a proposed criteria and indicators for SFM. Initially, the Environmental Performance Monitoring (EPM) System was developed under the Natural Resources Management Program (NRMP), Apart from the EPM, the Model Forest Project assisted by FAO and Japan has also designed a model forest level measurement of indicators. However, similar to EPM, the tool is specifically designed for a particular forest management unit managed by organized forest-dependent communities.

To assess the current state of SFM in the Philippine, it is necessary to have a full understanding of the various components of SFM and their impacts on forest resources and ecosystems. These require a system of criteria and measurable indicators to evaluate the changes and conditions and management systems at national and forest management unit levels like timber concessions, industrial forest management areas, and community based forest management areas. In this context, the DENR through the FMB implemented the Pre-project with funding from the ITTO.

This pre-project is intended to address the need for a system for tracking the progress towards the achievement of SFM in the Philippines. It also seeks to harmonize and/or consolidate previous and ongoing efforts within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which oftentimes are too focused or configured mainly for a particular forest management unit. Efforts under the Pre-Project will also lead to the determination of the level or degree upon which various stakeholders have gone in the development of their areas. It would also lead into the assessment of the state-of-knowledge vis-à-vis SFM requirements and the present capabilities of the Philippine forest managers.

The C & I for SFM will provide a common yardstick by which the various stakeholders can determine the state of the country’s forest resources at any given time and at any particular location. With the adoption of a mutually agreed upon yardstick, the contentious debates that characterize discussion on Philippine forestry will be minimized.

The pre-project was implemented with the basic philosophy of applying C and I as management tools for reporting progress towards SFM and enhancing capability of FMU’s in managing their forest resources on a sustainable basis.

Development Objectives – Promote sustainable management of the tropical resources in the Philippines in accordance with the ITTO Year 2000 objective, through the formulation of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management at the national and forest management unit levels, including appropriate monitoring, assessment and reporting systems.

1. Formulate the Philippines SFM criteria and indicators at the national and forest management unit levels, using the ITTO C & I as benchmark. The outputs to be achieved under this objective are the following:

2. Develop action program for the application of SFM C & I in the Philippines, including the appropriate monitoring and assessment systems and institutional arrangements. The outputs to be produced under this objective are the following:

Action program for the application and institutionalization of SFM C & I in the Philippines, including the appropriate monitoring, assessment systems and institutional arrangements;
A project proposal that will build on ongoing initiatives in the Philippines to come up with the final set of C & I for SFM at the national and forest management unit level, set up mechanisms for institutional arrangements; monitoring and assessment systems.

The Pre-Project is designed to formulate the Philippine Criteria and Indicators for SFM at the national and forest management unit levels. At the same time, it seeks to develop an action program for the application of Philippine C & I for SFM including the appropriate monitoring and assessment systems and institutional arrangements. A detailed project proposal will also be developed for implementation of the action program.

The general approach and methodology employed entailed a general framework for analysis of the current situation pertaining to the country’s efforts in SFM and the formulation of an appropriate criteria and indicators to monitor and evaluate progress of forest management programs towards or away from SFM. It was logically done through a problem tree analyses that highlighted the present opportunities and constraints in achieving SFM at national and forest management units. The analytical framework considered the following major points:

The Philippines has adopted SFM as the over-arching policy and key strategy for all plans and programs in the forestry sector;
There is a proposed new forest policy 2001 within a watershed/ecosystem framework;
ITTO funded the recently concluded project on biodiversity conservation in a Tropical forest production area in Surigao del Sur, Philippines and completed a model SFM plan for the SUDECOR concession;

The vital law on SFM is still under deliberations and debate in the halls of Congress; the DENR adopted the ITTO definition and scope of SFM;
SFM should be able to reverse the current critical state of forestry in the Philippines;
The need to assess the current state of SFM in the Philippines that require a system of SFM criteria and measurable indicators to evaluate the changes and conditions of management systems at the national and forest management unit level;
There are existing efforts to develop a national system for SFM criteria and indicators in the country;
The ITTO system of criteria and indicators for natural production forests both at national and forest management units can provide the benchmark for an appropriate system for the country;
The Philippines has not adopted officially a system for C&I for SFM; the global approach to timber certification for export of tropical forest product coming from sustainable sources.

This framework on needs/solutions analysis provided the initial approach towards understanding what is applicable to the country based on current situation of SFM considering both constraints and opportunities.

Stakeholders, which included timber producers, people’s organization, non-governmental organizations, academe, other government agencies, and other officials of DENR, have been actively involved in the Pre-Project implementation.

They were directly involved in the various discussion and consultations for the formulation of the draft C & I for the Philippines and the framework/action plan for implementation. The series of discussions resulted into a common notion among them that indeed, there is a need to come up with parameters or indicators that could be applied across forest management units to determine if the forest management activities being undertaken by the forest managers are leading towards sustainable development of forest resources.

The information that may be generated through the use of the C&I are extremely important to forest managers in knowing which forest management activities work and which are not and in the process undertake measures to further improve them. In like manner, it will also be useful to policy makers in the DENR in the preparation of guidelines and policies as management of the forest resources is concerned.

The adoption of C&I manual and format at the national level enabled the country to comply with a first baseline national report in accordance with the ITTO C and I reporting format and Objective 2000. Yearly assessment of key issues and indicators that constrain SFM in the country will now be possible putting the country at par with other timber producer countries that complied with the ITTO reporting requirements. It will benefit directly ITTO and other multi-lateral and bilateral donors in determining key project interventions to assist the country attain its goals in SFM.

After completion of the activities, it is recommended that the Pre-Project be elevated into a Project Mode in order to facilitate the application and institutionalization of the C&I including the Manual of Application. It would also help sustain the enthusiasm of the stakeholders who have been involved in the design and who will be the eventual users of the tool.

Framework and action programs are needed for government, FMUs and others concerned to eventually implement the proposed system. Such action plan will be the basis and form the key activities for the required full-blown project proposal to be submitted to ITTO for funding to implement and institutionalize the proposed C and I system.

The implementation framework of the action plan is more comprehensive in scope than mere adoption of the C and I. The system will be meaningless if not applied along with auditing of the proposed C and I to be used by various FMUs including CBFM areas as a tool for SFM reporting, control, and monitoring. The audit system for C and I must be tested in selected pilot FMUs and their forest managers trained on the actual use.

The action plan not only includes the technical methods to evaluate the progress of SFM but the review and amendments of enabling conditions such as current policies and regulations. Participatory processes amongst stakeholders and decision-makers are also integral part of the action plan.