Project insight 2017: Philippines
The Philippine forests are threatened by shifting cultivation ("kaingin"), mining, conversion to other land uses and timber poaching / illegal logging. Besides Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the protective functions of the forests (water retention, soil conservation), the highly endemic terrestrial biodiversity and the basis for livelihoods of local communities and Indigenous People (IP) are critically endangered. To counteract the negative trends, the Philippine Government has endorsed in 2010 the Philippine National REDD+ Strategy (PNRPS).
Since then, DFS is supporting the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in the implementation of REDD+ eligible activities on sub-national level and in the preparation of the country's readiness to participate in the REDD+ mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Our contribution:
- Capacity building of forestry staff and people's organizations in 8 provinces and 50 municipalities, support to the establishment of municipal environment and natural resources offices, training of forest guards as basis for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM);
- Participatory development of Forest Land Use Plans (FLUP) in 32 municipalities covering around 450,000 ha of forest land, delineating protection and production forest, critical habitats, hazard zones, etc.;
- Support to biodiversity conservation through the establishment and management of critical habitats of endangered plant and animal species covering 35,200 ha, based on biodiversity surveys and community consultations, according to national standards and World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) criteria;
Figure: Rafflesia
- Protection of 111,200 ha of natural forests through municipal ordinances, the training and support of multi-sectoral forest protection committees and forest guards, and the development of alternative sustainable livelihoods in the peripheral zones;
Figure: Training on abaca fiber extraction
- Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) through participatory reforestation and enrichment planting of 2,600 ha and the development of 2,900 ha of agroforestry plantations, using high-value crops such as cocoa, coffee and abaca, including livestock dispersal, value chain development and marketing, and the facilitation of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for processing and marketing;
- Contribution to the reduction of CO2 emission through forest protection measures / avoided deforestation and CO2 sequestration through reforestation measures, amounting to 392,000 t of CO2 annually;
Figure: Afforestation in cogonal areas
- Assistance in securing tenure or long-term use rights in the context of "Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM)";
- Full consideration and promotion of the rights of indigenous people through the conduct of Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and the development of Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plans (ADSDPP) covering 69,000 ha;
- Support to the use of biomass as renewable energy source for rice drying and power generation;
Figure: Bioenergy rice dryer
- Design, implementation and analysis of 4 sub-national forest resources assessment covering 734,000 ha of forests, satisfying the requirements of the 2006 International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national GHG inventories in the Agriculture, Forest and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector;
Figure: Recording forest resources assessment data
- Assistance in the development of the system description of a National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) satisfying the requirement of the UNFCCC Warsaw Framework for the reporting purposes related to REDD+;
- Contribution to Information, Education and Communication (IEC), knowledge management and policy dialogue of climate and environment related issues.
External links for further information:
- Scaling up forest and climate protection: https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/news/article/scaling_up_forest_and_climate_protection/
- Management of Resources on Forestlands through Enhanced Sustainable Technologies (MOREFORESTs): http://faspselib.denr.gov.ph/node/263
- REDD+ Philippines: http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/redd-plus-philippines/published.php
- Video of El Gamma Penumbra's artistic performance at the National REDD+ System Philippines Project closing event on April 7th, 2017: http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/redd-plus-philippines/video/REDDvolution_video.mp4