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THE government began the democratization of forestland and
resources access during the time of President Marcos who initiated
the participation of local communities in forest management. By
1975, several people-oriented programs were formulated which
included the Forest Occupancy Management, Family Approach to
Reforestation and Communal tree farming. (Pulhin and Dizon,
undated).
In 1995, the government formulated and adopted
the Community-based Forest Management (CBFM) Program with former
DENR Secretary Victor O. Ramos rationalizing that “equity is the
counterpoint of scarcity and that equity refers not only to the
sharing of benefits but the responsibility of sustainable
development.”
The CBFM radically changed the DENR paradigm
from a “traditional, regulatory forest land management and
instead moved towards a developmental and people-oriented
strategy.” CBFM aims “to improve the well-being of
forest-dependent communities both migrant groups and indigenous
peoples (IPs) and ensure the sustainable management, rehabilitation
and protection of the forests” by allowing beneficiaries to
“occupy, develop, manage and utilize forest lands and its resources.”
CBFM holders are given tenurial security for 25 years renewable
for another 25 years.
In 1997, the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act
was passed, recognizing ancestral domain as private land (Pulhin and
Dizon, und) and allowed IPs to apply for Certificates of Ancestral
Domain Titles (CADT) and Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles (CALT)
to certify ownership of land. These two major policies enabled
upland communities to participate in forest management and
share in its benefits.
To day 1.6 million hectares are covered by CBFM
agreements benefiting 1,781 peoples organizations (DENR-FMB, 2005)
while CADT and CALT cover a total of 1.12 million hectares with more
than 245,000 beneficiaries.
One best-practice case in forestry tenurial
security is the Integrated Social Forestry Program of the Lantawan
Up-land Integrated Social Forestry Association (LUFISFA) in Northern
Negros Natural Park (NNNP), Lantawan, Negros Occidental. (Elgincolin,
1998, unpublished) The NNNP has two mountain ranges with a land area
of 80,454 hectares covering nine municipalities and three cities. As
a watershed, it provides inflows to three major rivers and is
habitat to threatened endemic species such as the Philippine spotted
deer, Philippine coucal, Negros bleeding heart and Visayan hornbill
(Haribon, 2001). Today, the NNNP makes up 50 percent of the
5-percent remaining forest cover in Negros Occidental out of a total
land area of 792,600 hectares.
The remote communities surrounding the park rely
heavily on the forests that are threatened with kaingin, timber and
wildlife poaching and settlements. Landlessness and poverty have
forced many to occupy the uplands. In 1996, the International
Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) implemented a
conservation and livelihood project that targeted only holders of
stewardship contracts within the park. The institute introduced
regenerative agriculture techniques, such as alley cropping, contour
farming, intensive woodlot, tree nursery management, planting of
fruit trees, bio-intensive market gardening and freshwater
aquaculture.
Members of the Lantawan Upland Farmers ISF
Association (LUFISFA), a grassroots organization adopted these
technologies. Organized in 1981, their 63 Certificate of
Stewardship Contract (CSC) holders cover 309 hectares. They follow a
“dagyaw” system of cooperation where members are organized in
clusters and take turns assisting cluster members in more difficult
manpower-intensive activities like harvesting. It was also timely
that in 1996, the governor created the Northern Negros Management
Council that oversaw the management of the park. Several awareness
raising, livelihood and enforcement activities were implemented
by the council led by the governor which shifted the attention of
project participants to their farms. Wood used for charcoal-making
and fuel wood were harvested from their farms.
Despite the decrease in incomes to P1500/month
compared to a potential income of P5000/mo from illegal logging,
the majority was satisfied with their new livelihood. A steady
monthly income allows them to plan for future expenses. The men
admitted that the project and the lifestyle it espoused provided
them with security said to the high risks entailed in forest
resource extraction activities. The women shared that their husbands
are able to spend more time with the family. Another male participant
claimed that money acquired illegally is spent lavishly, explaining
that while they used to earn a lot, the money was easily spent on
drinking and in beer houses. Further, soil and water conservation
technologies reduced soil erosion and in-creased productivity of
farms that helped minimize agricultural expansion.
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