Past and present forestry support programs in the Philippines, and lessons for the future

A variety of government programs have been implemented to support smallholder forestry for production and conservation purposes in the Philippines. This paper briefly outlines the arrangements of the past and current programs, notes how they have evolved over time, and provides some comments on their performance. Over about 30 years, as weaknesses have been identified in programs, the program designs have been modified. For most of this time, there has been an increasing emphasis on community involvement as distinct from industrial or individual farmer forestry. However, some of the intractable constraints on community planting have led to recent interest in individual property rights

The Philippines

The Philippines is a large archipelago of over 7000 islands, mostly lined by coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests, and surrounded by waters with variable currents driven by a reversing monsoon system. The islands have narrow coastal plains, north-south mountain ranges, active volcanoes, and high seismological activity. These elements, along with the country’s complex geologic history and geographic position, make the Philippines one of the most biologically diverse, most disaster prone, and most environmentally threatened in the world. High dependence on coastal resources, overfishing and destructive fishing, and high rates of habitat loss make fishers in the country the poorest of the poor. The large population sizes and disproportionate impact of climate change here makes the poor’s situation worse. However, the country remains resource-rich, and its people have proven to be very resilient. More habitats are being protected and rehabilitated, and successful community-based fisheries management efforts are now being upscaled to higher governance levels. Although more conservation and management efforts are needed, there is much that could be learned from the Philippine experience. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved