Question

Write an account on various approaches involved in ecodevelopment programme and community based forest management.

Answer 1

Answer:

Forest harvesting by communities offers great potential to reduce poverty in the Philippine uplands. The country has approximately 1.5 million ha of second-growth “production forests” that can be utilized commercially on a sustainable basis by thousands of poor upland communities. While not as economically valuable as natural forests, timber from tree farms also offers viable livelihood opportunities to upland communities. Aside from timber revenue, additional income may also be generated from branches and thinnings sold as firewood or converted to charcoal.

Most rural villagers already possess the necessary skills for manual flitching1 of timber from natural forests. They also know how to plant and tend tree farms since trees have always been an important component of their farming systems. Furthermore, policies set forth in the Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) Program of the Philippine Government envisage active involvement of the rural poor in the management of both tree plantations and natural forests.

Despite its immense potential to reduce rural poverty, community timber harvesting has not been effectively harnessed by the Philippine Government. While natural timber harvesting only requires “simple tools” to benefit the poor upland communities, “complex procedures” continue to obstruct the realization of this potential. We view “simple tools” to be of two types: (i) simple physical tools such as hand saws, animal skidding2, and other simple equipment; and (ii) procedural tools such as simple management guidelines, simple approvals, simple inventory techniques, simple management plans, and the like. On the other hand, existing “complex procedures” relate to a blend of policy/political, institutional, and operational factors whose combined effects hinder the achievement of the poverty reduction objective of CBFM. This paper reviews the opportunities and constraints for poverty reduction through timber harvesting in upland communities, and suggests that realizing this potential will require the reduction of “complex procedures” and adoption of “simple tools”.