The Philippines is one of the most severely deforested countries in the tropics and most deforestation has happened in the last 40 years. Estimates place forest cover in the Philippines in the year 1900 at 21 million hectares, covering 70 % of the total land area. By 1999, forests covered 5.5 million hectares; only 800,000 hectares of this was primary forest. As illegal logging continues, the remaining forest is endangered.

 

The destruction of the Philippine forest was the subject of a recent study (1999), Decline of the Philippine Forest, by the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC). This study traces the history of the decline, examines the causes and effects of deforestation, and discusses emerging perspectives. The study considers two possible Philippine scenarios for the year 2010. One assumes that meaningful steps will be taken to reverse the decline and offers some hope; the other scenario assumes that things will continue as in the past, and the outcome will be a continued national degradation of resources.

The Philippines is paying a high price for the destruction of its forests and a number of major problems confronting the nation can be traced directly to deforestation. Today, the country faces food insecurity due to soil erosion, which means depleted nutrients and low crop yield. In many provinces, at least 50% of the topsoil has been lost, and 70% of all croplands are vulnerable to erosion. The country's climatic conditions are such that typhoons sweep the country an average of 19 times a year. The topography is mainly uplands with a slope equal to or greater than 18% and these areas make up 52% of total land area. In the absence of forest cover and with frequent heavy typhoon rains, soil erosion, mass wasting, and landslides are induced.

The Philippines is facing water insecurity because of degraded and poorly managed watersheds. More than 57 % of the major watersheds are critically denuded, which means loss of water infiltration and slow recharging of water tables. Nationwide, water quality has deteriorated and cities like Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Baguio, are constantly facing water shortages. A country that once exported some of the finest woods in the world is now a net wood importer.

The decimation of the forest is a tragedy for indigenous peoples. Ethnic groups become forced to retreat into the interior and further impoverished. Government is doing little to raise these people above their subsistence level. Some have left their lands, and the sight of indigenous peoples begging in city streets is not uncommon. They have lost their lands, and their culture has been degraded. With the destruction of indigenous cultures, the nation is losing a treasure that should be nurtured to enrich national cultural diversity.

This loss of cultural communities is closely linked to the loss of biodiversity. Tropical forests are rich in herbs, woody plants, birds, insects, and animal life. Destroying the forests means destroying the myriad creatures and flora on which the indigenous communities depend. Forest loss also means loss of forest products such as, rattan, resins, and gums, a source of livelihood for indigenous people. Wildlife is quickly disappearing and to date, the destruction of the ecosystems is taking a heavy toll on biodiversity: 18 species of fauna are already rare and endangered, while 43 species of birds are threatened with extinction.

The ESSC's response to these problems is multifaceted and flexible. However, in any approach, community management is central. This approach was discussed at such international conferences as the 1996 FAO Conference in Bangkok, the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests in New York in February 2000 (through the Working Group on Community Involvement in Forest Management), and at the World Bank Forest Policy Implementation Review and Strategy in Singapore in April 2000. A presentation on the role of indigenous peoples in watershed management was delivered to the House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress in December 1999.

ESSC is the Secretariat of the Philippine Working Group (PWG) for national resource management. PWG activities are documented in the ESSC publication, Forest People Facing Change. This monograph gives a history of the PWG, discusses the philosophy guiding its approach, examines PWG strengths and weaknesses, documents field visits, and critiques PWG findings. PWG members represent a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds; expertise is drawn from the academe, government, NGOs, and funding agencies. Each member is there in his/her own capacity and not as a representative of an agency. Members feel free to discuss, question, and examine any problem without being held responsible for what others have said in the past or the present limitations of policy. Starting in the outlying sitios, where marginalised communities live, the group works its way up through the municipal to the provincial level. The PWG, after witnessing how government policies are being implemented, has been effective in having the national government modify its policies.

To promote community based forest and resource management, ESSC developed community mapping to ensure community participation and the articulation of community views and concerns. How this works is explained in the book Community Mapping Manual for Resource Management, published in conjunction with the DENR. Apart from enabling communities to present their own views, it introduces indigenous communities to modern technology and basic scientific knowledge. Another manual for trainers is being prepared.

For ESSC, the relationship between culture and ecosystems is of critical importance and this relationship is discussed in three publications: Philippine Culture and Ecosystems, Resource Conflict and Cultural Management in Southern Sierra Madre, and Mindoro in the Balance.

ESSC promotes community based forest management (CBFM) and assisted natural regeneration (ANR). While CBFM has been successful over the past years, the present leadership of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) seems more interested in experimenting with timber corridors. However, it does not make much sense to cut regenerating scrublands and then to replant the area with alien species when the condition of the scrublands can be improved by ANR.

In the Philippines, the promotion of CBFM, especially in degraded watershed areas, is imperative. People living in watersheds have a stake in improving them, and by so doing, contribute significantly to solving the water problem of the agricultural lowland communities and of our cities.

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