The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) joined forces in 2019, leveraging a combined 65 years’ experience in research on the role of forests and trees in solving critical global challenges.
Government extensionists and farmer organizations are learning how to produce wood, timber and non-timber forest products from agroforestry projects.
The Philippine Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP) is a hugely ambitious, seven-year initiative aimed at restoring upland watersheds by investing in communities to develop viable, sustainable micro-, small- and medium-sized forest and agri-enterprises that will be the motors of the rural economies in their respective local government areas. It is funded by the Asian Development Bank and implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Technical support is provided by World Agroforestry (ICRAF).
DENR has more than 40 years of experience in working with upland communities to deliver solutions in forest landscape restoration. INREMP is novel because it is integrating sustainable land-use models with building the entrepreneurial skills of the communities, with accompanying infrastructural development. INREMP is the first project that aims to transform communities and upland peoples from beneficiaries of project funds into partners in public-private partnerships.
As a key action, ICRAF together with DENR’s Caraga Region held a stakeholders’ forum — Transforming People’s Organizations into Viable Tree-based Businesses — 11–12 March 2020 in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.
The Forum primarily focused on building the capacity of representatives from national and local governments in understanding the challenges and opportunities in establishing tree-based enterprises with communities. Representatives also came from the larger private sector, development organizations, and leading community members from various regions in the Philippines.
They discussed business opportunities for upland farming communities to venture into more lucrative timber, wood, and non-timber forest product enterprises, focusing on the business models that communities could adopt and the legal enabling mechanisms needed to support them.
Visits were conducted to wood companies, a community organization, and a privately-owned timber plantation. During these visits, the participants witnessed first-hand how wood companies operate. The owner of the private plantation shared his knowledge of how he had been maintaining his business for years. The community organization explained how they use their collective power to bring benefits to members.
Untapped potential
Samuel Danganan, Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services of DENR’s regional office in Caraga, opened the Forum, highlighting the forest sector as the region’s backbone for economic development.
In 2015, for instance, the region produced 592,821 cubic metres of logs, constituting 70% of the total log production in the country. In the next three years, log production in Caraga decreased but the numbers still hovered around 500,000 cubic metres (491,833 m3 in 2016; 492,525 m3 in 2017; 518,662 m3 in 2018).
Danganan called for more investment and capacity building for small- and medium-sized tree-based enterprises and an updated assessment to better value forest species. Such an assessment could inform decision makers on how they can sustainably use forests. New studies must also be conducted to better measure the profitability of tree plantations on private land, he said. In 2004, 46,000 hectares of tree farms were on private land, employing 31,000 people, supplying 60% of the timber in the country.
Eight speakers from government, NGOs, and the private sector presented their experience with connecting sustainability and profitability. Each speaker showcased opportunities for community organizations to maximize the value of tree species, underscoring that only attractive economic incentives would enable sustainable forest protection.
But it’s not all about timber. With an increasing global demand for chocolate, cacao is in high demand. The Philippine cacao Industry roadmap also its own ambitious target to increase cacao production by 40% to achieve 100,000 tonnes of beans by 2022.
At the Forum, Agustin Mercado Jr, Conservation Farming and Agroforestry Specialist with ICRAF Philippines, presented information and designs about multi-strata agroforestry systems — which mimic the functions of tropical rainforest ecosystems — as sustainable production models, allowing better natural resources management and ensuring food and nutrition security.
Sharing data from his own demonstration farm in Claveria, Mindanao, he showed that cacao–rubber and coffee–rubber agroforestry systems can generate more produce than those without rubber. Specifically, in the third year after establishment, communities can harvest more than twice the amount of fresh cacao beans per tree monthly by adopting the cacao–rubber system. A coffee–rubber system can yield more than three times the amount of fresh berries per tree monthly after three years.
Aside from coffee and cacao, integrating trees into intensive vegetable production can improve crop yields by up to 40% owing to improved microclimates: lower wind speeds and temperatures; higher soil moisture and organic-matter content. Moreover, trees provide ecosystem services such as wildlife habitats, control of soil erosion and carbon sequestration.
For upland communities this can be a particularly attractive way to grow cacao because of the potential for a diverse portfolio of produce: aside from cacao beans, communities can also sell fruit, timber or latex, depending on the model.
Michael Ong, president of vertically integrated wood-based company, Industries Development Corporation, explained the massive potential for the Philippines to capitalize on the growing fuel-wood sector. In his proposed business model, he showed that intercropping fast-growing fuel-wood species, such as ‘madre de cacao’ (Gliricidia sepium), and high-value timber species, such as Swietenia mahagoni, could generate 210,000 tons of fuel wood and 7.6 million board feet (18,000 m3) of timber. Ong said that more investors could be attracted by the Government improving tenure security, aggregation of smaller-sized producers and attractive benefit-sharing models.
Ong noted that the Philippines has a population density of 361 people per square kilometre, which is 2.7 times denser that Thailand, 3.6 times denser than Malaysia and 120 times denser than Canada.
‘The social aspect is the greatest challenge in any forest-related development in our country,’ said Ong. ‘While it can be a challenge in getting everybody to think as one, it also can offer a vested, reliable labour force who will care for and protect their areas as long as proper tools, infrastructure, training and, most importantly, an up to par daily wage are offered.’
For small-scale operations, Mario Sebastian Jr from MARSSE Tropical Timber Plantations told of the transformation of their 60-hectare family farm into a successful wood enterprise. MARSSE produces local wooden products made from sustainably farmed trees, including customized furniture and flooring, high-quality wooden homes, and dining and kitchen accessories. Their farm was established in 1992 and now has an average standing stock of 120,000 assorted hardwood species with some specimens 27 years-old. The farm comprises predominantly Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and teak (Tectona grandis) hardwoods mixed with native fruit and timber species, such as mango, ‘narra’ (Pterocarpus indicus), ‘duhat’ (Syzygium cumini (L) Skeels) and ‘kamagong’ (Diospyros discolor).
A turning point for the family-run business was the financial assistance they received from the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrade Program of the Department of Science and Technology. This funding enabled them to develop their kiln dryer and buy additional woodworking equipment that improved their production and in turn added value to their products. Being a founding member of the Sustainable Tree Farmers Group of the Philippines, Sebastian emphasized that his family values sustainability as much as they aim for profitability.
‘Sustainability for me is that my father planted trees for me and my brother to harvest and build a life,’ he explained.
Engaging communities
Based on data collected by ICRAF, restoration projects in the Philippines have a huge potential to bring back Philippine native trees. Such projects have undergone a paradigm shift, transferring the power to restore forests to the communities that live around them.
This shift was evident in the national strategy for community-based forest management, which grants communities access to, and advances the sustainable use of, forest resources. Under the strategy, community-based forest management agreements are issued, mandating organized communities to apply sustainable and environment-friendly harvesting methods.
The Department reported that 1884 agreements were active as of 2018. These agreements can be instrumental in promoting the adoption of native trees during and after INREMP. Native trees offer superior economic potential, which includes better product quality and higher prices. They even possess better aesthetic values than exotic species. Their slow growth rates make them fantastic future investments.
Ephraim Cercado, a surgeon by profession whose passion is tree farming, shared how iconic Philippine native trees — such as ‘narra’, ‘nyatoh’ (Palaquium spp and Payena spp), ‘dao’ (Dracontomelon dao) and ‘toog’, the Philippine rosewood (Petersianthus quadrialatus (Merr) Merr) — could be domesticated.
Cercado is an author of Philippine Native Trees 202, which provides information on selected endangered and endemic species. He also manages the Philippine Native Tree Enthusiasts, an online knowledge-sharing platform about native timber trees.
While the timber and wood value of the Philippines’ rich natural tree heritage is widely known, Cercado pointed to the huge untapped tourism opportunity of ornamental plants, such as jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys), ‘hoya’ (Hoya spp), ‘banaba’ (Lagerstroemia speciose) and ‘bagras’ (Eucalyptus deglupta).
An estimated 63 million people travel to and within Japan to view the annual cherry bloom, spending around USD 2.7 billion in the process.
Cercado asked, ‘How come we don’t develop our natural treasure to its full potential?’
The DENR could also explore consolidation of people’s organisations to capitalise on the high domestic and international demand for non-timber forest products, as another potentially sustainable livelihood post-INREMP.
In a business-case study, Ruth Canlas, executive director of the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme, discussed ‘almaciga’ (Agathis philippinensis) resin or ‘Manila copal,’ one of the country’s top non-timber forest product exports.
Samahan ng mga Palaw’ano sa Amas Brooke’s Point is a community-owned cooperative that trades the resin collectively. It sells more than PHP 1 million (≈ USD 20,000) worth of almaciga resin yearly, 60% of which goes to the indigenous groups who harvest the resin.
At the end of the Forum, several participants gave their impressions and affirmed their commitment to sustain the gains of INREMP beyond the project’s lifetime.
Robert Sudlayan, a farmer from Bukidnon Upper River Basin, expressed his gratitude, saying in his local language that, ‘we consider INREMP as a blessing because it has helped us improve our livelihoods’. He recounted how the project brought them back to their land to restart their farming activities. They may not be earning much, but he said they are more satisfied today than they were before. Moreover, a part of their income is now allocated to his organization’s savings account.
Way forward
Rodel Lasco, Country Coordinator of ICRAF Philippines, emphasized the need to highlight the role of trees and forestry in wider social and environmental issues. Doing so would provide additional incentives to revitalise the sector. For example, the Philippines is in the process of drafting its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement. Among the mitigation options being considered is forest management.
As reported by Johanna San Pedro of INREMP’s National Project Coordinating Office during the Forum, the project has almost completed all its subprojects and livelihoods’ enhancement support. For agroforestry, 99% of the targeted 14,374 hectares has already been achieved; for conservation farming systems, 95% of the 3633 hectares; and for commercial tree plantations, 99% or 3568 hectares.
For its natural resources’ subprojects, INREMP has also already completed its target areas for reforestation, covering 8556 hectares; and for assisted natural regeneration, 96%.
The Forum agreed that a wider consultation is needed to discuss how different Government agencies can work together to ensure that upland communities can capitalise on the vast opportunities for tree-based businesses.
One of the challenges is a web of policies and laws that regulate the planting, harvesting and sale of trees on state land, which are designed to protect remaining forests but unintentionally restrict communities and large-scale private investors who want to plant trees and invest in tree-based businesses.
INREMP is a crucially important opportunity to bring together not only Government agencies but also small- and large-scale sectoral interests to navigate a clear path through the tangle of policies and regulations.
A call has already been made to review policies to do just that. Such clarity would ensure swift and efficient achievement of national commitments through better use of trees on degraded state forest land — and on agricultural land — and provide the basis for tree-based businesses to become once again the economic backbone of the nation.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Asian Development Bank contracted ICRAF Philippines to provide technical assistance and capacity building to INREMP. One of ICRAF’s responsibilities is to assist the Department in establishing and managing demonstration sites in four river basins: Chico Upper River Basin in Cordillera Administrative Region; Wahig-Inabanga River Basin in Region 7; Bukidnon Upper River Basin in Region 10; and Lake Lanao River Basin in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
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World Agroforestry (ICRAF) is a centre of scientific and development excellence that harnesses the benefits of trees for people and the environment. Knowledge produced by ICRAF enables governments, development agencies and farmers to utilize the power of trees to make farming and livelihoods more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable at multiple scales. ICRAF is one of the 15 members of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. We thank all donors who support research in development through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund.