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Table 7. Conditions for success of the FLR national strategy Conditions
Description
1. Reforms in forest policies
As conditions for sustainable FLR, the following policy areas must be modified and issued at the national level through appropriate administrative issuances:
a Implementing guidelines for the DENR’s shift from a sectoral to an integrated watershed-ecosystem management approach as a unifying policy framework for FLR
as a component of an intersectoral environment and natural resource management strategy in major river basins, watersheds, protected areas, large ancestral domains,
islands and mineral reserve areas. Formulated in the broader context of watershed ecosystems, a policy that shall harmonize and mainstream FLR with comprehensive LGU
socio-economic development plans through the joint DENR-NCIP-LGU implementation of forest land use plans, protected areas management plans, ancestral domain plans,
coastal and natural resources management plans and other ENR sectoral plans e.g. solid waste and waste water.
b DENR-NCIP Joint Administrative guidelines for areas under IFMAs, CBFMAs, SIFMAs and CADTs to be designated as the main sources of raw materials for plantation
wood, fuelwood and charcoal to meet local wood-processing requirements and domestic needs.
c A national policy that will create support to capacitate, provide financing and technically assist the holders of CBFMAs, CADTs and Protected Areas Community-Based
Resource Management Agreements in the multiple-use zones of protected areas. To improve their forest resource management practices, develop a national policy that
will identify, determine and offer opportunities for public-private partnerships, public- community-private partnerships, co-investments and co-financing of ENR-dependent
enterprises and industries.
2. Consistency with relevant and related
national policies The FLR strategy from the national level down to the LRMU must be consistent with
national policies such as: a. The NIPAS Law – for any forest restoration activities in protected areas as state tenure
for conserving biodiversity especially with respect to what species will be used, what zones will be covered and which strategy of the protected area management plan it
supports. b. Climate Change Law and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act –
restoration should be consistent with the ecosystem-based LGU DRRM strategies and must be able to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation by
communities, livelihoods, enterprises and industries. c. Indigenous Peoples Right Act IPRA Law – for restoration in ancestral lands, especially
those in support of CADT holders as they carry out the implementation of their ancestral domain sustainable development and protection plans.
d. Local Government Code – need for LGU involvement within their political jurisdiction and consistency with the LGUs’ comprehensive land-use plans CLUPs.
e. Wildlife and Conservation Act – in support of critical habitat, protection of wildlife species and conservation of corridor areas that may cut across political boundaries and
watershed ecosystems. f. EO 263 and EO 318 – FLR to be consistent with the community-based forest
management and sustainable forest management strategies especially in forest lands of holders of CBFMAs and IFMAs.
g. EO 23 – FLR to be supportive of enforcement of the moratorium on logging in the remaining closed and open canopy forests in the Philippines and of protecting them
under various tenure and ancestral domain areas. h. EO 26 – FLR as support to the evolving National Greening Strategy that includes
components of social mobilization, a commodity road map for reforestation, agroforestry in both tenured and non-tenured areas, partnership and collaboration,
and tenure and use rights. 3. Consistency with the
major Philippines international
commitments FLR should support the Philippines’ commitments to the following international
agreementsorganizations: a The CBD especially the Aichi Convention,
b The UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol especially in reducing emissions from forests and forest lands, and
c The International Tropical Timber Organization ITTO especially in the adoption and implementation of sustainable forest management.
143 4. Re-oriented and
strengthened national and local institutions
on collaborative, integrated, client-
responsive and market-oriented FLR in
support of various land and forest resource
management units within watershed-
ecosystem landscapes Adequate technical, institutional, financial management, organizational and leadership
capacities are needed to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate programmes and projects in support of FLR at the national, regional, provincial and local levels; and of
various LGUs and LRMUs for translating the FLR into their individual zoning regimes, development plans and resource management plans.
6.1.1 Reforms in major policy areas
As summarized in Table 7, reforms are needed in major forestry policy areas to support FLR approach. These should also be formulated in the ongoing shift from the sectoral to intersectoral and integrated ecosystems’ approach to minimize
negative environmental externalities in watershed-dominated landscapes where interconnectedness, interdependence and intergenerational impacts must be considered.
6.1.2 Consistency with current national policies
Given the need to produce forest ecosystem goods and services to meet various demands, it is imperative that FLR has to satisfy the policy provisions and requirements of various forestry and ENR-related policies. Multiple objectives must be
achieved from a given watershed-dominated ecosystem or landscape. Each objective may be carried out under different policy guidance. The cross-cutting objectives will also have to satisfy the need to address climate change and disaster risk
reduction, get the buy-ins and commitments of LGUs, conserve biodiversity in PAs and outside the PAs that are considered to be part of the key biodiversity areas, comply to various environmental regulations especially on mitigating negative
externalities, preserve the practices of indigenous cultural communities and contribute to programmes that will reduce poverty.
Thus, as listed in Table 7, the policies that have cross-cutting concerns in FLR within each region and LGU are: a The Climate Change Act; b Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act; c The Local Government Code LGC; and d
Executive Order 192 – Re-Organization of the Environment and Natural Resources.
There are several policies that are key for assisting or supporting various LRMUs within an LGU and watershed-ecosystem unit under the FLR approach. They include the: a The NIPAS Law protection and conservation of biodiversity; b IPRA
recognition of legitimate land and ancestral domain claims of IPs; c Presidential Decree PD 705 Revised Forestry Code; d Executive Order EO 318 Sustainable Forest Management Act specifically for holders of IFMAs and CBMAs; e EO 23
moratorium on logging in all natural forests; and f EO 26 implementation of the NGP in forests and forest lands.
FLR in the Philippines is going to be effective if the approach, strategy, programmes and plans are carried out with LGUs in priority river basins or watersheds that are clearly connected with major economic investments and infrastructure and
through each of the relevant LRMUs.
6.1.3 Consistency with major international commitments
The Philippines is a signatory to major international agreements which commit the country to certain forest and biodiversity conservation practices and targets. Thus, the country’s FLR must contribute to achieving the commitments under these
agreements. The FLR-related agreements include: the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Conference for the Adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity CBD 2013, and the UNFCCC in 1992 and the
Kyoto Protocol.
6.1.4 Re-oriented and strengthened national and local institutions
Given the dominance of watershed-ecosystem landscapes in the Philippines, the configuration of the extent and coverage of protected areas and ancestral domains as LRMUs, the governance complexity that could impinge on FLR planning and
implementation would require a massive re-orientation and strengthening programme and support at the national and local levels. The following are required: a The DENR’s shift from sectoral to intersectoral and integrated ecosystems management;
b The DENR and LGUs also need orientation, training and support with the expected changes in management; and c capacitation of CBFMAs.
6.2 National strategy for FLR
A national strategy for FLR in the Philippines has to support the Revised and Updated Forestry Master Plan for Development, the Philippines National REDD Plus Strategy, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and the Strategic Plan
144 of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. The programmes that support these strategic plans have included
approaches for forest and landscape restoration.
6.2.1 Prescriptive FLR strategies
FLR at the national, regional and watershed-ecosystem or basin levels should provide prescriptive strategies to guide the formulation of site-specific operational strategies that respond to issues, threats and opportunities. The strategies may
cover mitigation and adaptation to climate change impacts; support for sustainable development needs, especially poverty and inclusive economic growth; improved local governance that supports individual and collective efforts in each basin;
addressing protection and conservation-oriented land and resource uses in each LGU and LRMU to increase resiliencies; and enhancing the comparative advantage of each site in support of competitive goods and services.
Integrated management of watershed ecosystems as the main approach of FLR: The forestry sector does not exist in isolation. Thus, it has to be a part of an integrated approach to the management and regulation of an array of ecosystems
in watersheds, protected areas, key biodiversity areas, islands, political units, ancestral domains and reservations. IEM has been adopted by the Philippines Government under its Philippine Development Plan for 2011-2016. This approach
supports the Philippines’ commitment to the CBD. It is a holistic and integrated strategy for managing land, water and living resources with humans playing a major role in the process.
The IEM prescriptive strategies at the national, regional and watershed ecosystem levels are intended to enjoin individual and collective actions to:
• Ensure ecosystem resiliencies within watershed ecosystems, mitigate the damages and risks from natural disasters that may result from erratic weather conditions.
• Facilitate the adaptation of highly vulnerable communities and their livelihoods, enterprises and industries within a given watershed ecosystem.
• Ensure that public and private investments will enhance a watershed ecosystem’s comparative advantages, especially in supplying water for various purposes.
• Pinpoint opportunities for improving the value chains of competitive goods and services. The suggested prescriptive strategies for FLR are not mutually exclusive of one another. Each may strengthen or
complement and reinforce the outcome and outputs of the other strategies. Some may cut across the different strategies like governance, incentives and setting up a database system. There are at least seven prescriptive strategies that are being
recommended to substantiate the FLR approach that is anchored on integrated management of watershed ecosystems in the Philippines. They are:
• Prescriptive Strategy No. 1 – The National Greening Program as the National Operational Framework of FLR – has the necessary components for FLR, but focuses on degraded and denuded areas under the ‘other wooded lands’
category in Table 2. • Prescriptive Strategy No. 2 – Governance-based Forest Restoration – restoration has to be consistent with local
governance. • Prescriptive Strategy No. 3 – Biodiversity Conservation in NIPAS and Non-NIPAS Areas – strengthening of biodiversity
conservation in protected areas, and contribute to commitment to the CBD. • Prescriptive Strategy No. 4 – Incentives and Support for Forest Restoration – defines incentives and support for the
holders of CBFMAs, IFMAs and domain holders. • Prescriptive Strategy No. 5 – Forestry Database System that Supports the Results-based Monitoring and Evaluation
RBME Process – needed for decision-making. • Prescriptive Strategy No. 6 – Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation REDD+ – provides an
opportunity to use restoration of forests and lands to contribute to reduction of carbon emissions. • Prescriptive Strategy No. 7 – Investments to Enhance Comparative Advantages – forest restoration programme has
to be tailored in support of a region’s comparative advantage.
6.2.2 Descriptive FLR strategies
Descriptive FLR strategies are going to be guided by FLR prescriptive strategies at the national, regional and watershed- ecosystem levels. These descriptive strategies are operational in nature and are translated into programmes, plans and
activities PPAs at the DENR field unit, LGU and LRMU levels. To realize the FLR prescriptive strategies, the DENR, LGUs, NCIP as a site may require and other agencies and organizations are enjoined to support and assist the different LRMUs
to carry out their annual plans and activities that individually and collectively will achieve the FLR goals and objectives for a given watershed ecosystem, a region and the country as a whole.
This means that in each priority watershed ecosystem, the DENR field units will prepare their annual PPAs consistent with the appropriate and applicable prescriptive strategies and leverage support of the LGUs to assist the land and forest
resource management units to protect the remaining natural forests, conserve highly diverse areas, develop plantations or agroforestry farms, engage in ENR-based enterprises based on the site’s comparative advantages and link with the markets.
This means that in each watershed ecosystem, the prescriptive FLR strategies are going to be used by the local governance body to guide each LGU in preparing and implementing their CLUPs with zoning regimes that have incorporated the FLUPs
145 and mangrove areas, the designated land and resource uses to ensure resiliencies of the ecosystems and communities,
and delineated areas in lands of public domain for forest production and development, rehabilitation and restoration. This also means that each LRMU – CADT, PA, CBFMA, IFMA, holder of special-use rights, watershed reservations and the
like – will develop their respective areas consistent with the FLR prescriptive strategies and LGU zoning regimes. The local governance bodies – councils, LGU executive and legislative branches, DENR, PAMBs, elders – will have to ensure that each
DENR field unit, LGU, tenure and domain holder, and other units with responsibility, accountability and authority will plan and implement FLR activities consistent with the prescriptive strategies of each watershed ecosystem.
Part of FLR – at the national, regional, LGU and land and forest management unit level – is an intentional effort to ensure that the remaining natural closed canopy forests are protected and managed by each resource management unit with
the guidance and oversight of the concerned DENR field unit, LGUs and local government bodies that include civil society groups and other agencies. There is no national programme along this line. This overall strategy can easily be linked with
the REDD+ programmes under the PNRPS.
Lastly, the DENR, NCIP and LGUs should make sure that the ongoing and approved donor-funded projects from loans and grants in each watershed ecosystem will transition towards supporting FLR, especially in translating the prescriptive
strategies into specific descriptive and operational workplans by each DENR field unit, LGU and LRMU.
146
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