Aag On Philippine Forest - Final

Philippine Forests
At A Glance
June 2015
AG-15-01
Forests are among the most valuable natural resources in the Philippines. They provide a range of
ecosystem services, ranging from the provision of food crops, livestock and fish to providing recreational
experiences. In 2013, the forestry sector contributed PhP5.26 billion (0.12%) to the national gross domestic
product (GDP) (2014 Philippine Statistical Yearbook). Forests also serve as significant carbon sink and are
vital for biological conservation and environmental protection, locations for education and research,
habitat for indigenous flora and fauna, and resettlement areas. According to the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), forests serve as home to some 12-15 million indigenous peoples and provide
livelihood to many families.
Forest Defined. The Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) defines forest as land with an area of more than 0.5 hectare and tree crown cover1 (or equivalent stocking
level) of more than 10 percent. The trees should be able to reach a minimum height of 5 meters at maturity in situ
(original position/location). A forest consists of either closed forest formations where trees of various storeys and
undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground or open forest formations with a continuous vegetation cover in
which tree crown cover exceeds 10 percent. Young natural stands and all plantations established for forestry
purposes, which have yet to reach a crown density of more than 10 percent or tree height of 5 meters are included
under forest.
Figure 1. Philippine Forest Cover, 1934-2010

17
million hectares
Forest Cover. In 1934, forests comprised more

than half (57%) of the countrys total land area. In
2010, the forest cover has gone down to 23
percent or about 6.8 million hectares mainly due
to increasing agricultural and housing needs,
commercial and illegal logging, and kaingin and
forest fires.2 The extensive deforestation and
degradation are brought about by the inequitable
land distribution, insecure tenure and rural
poverty in the country. However, due to
intensified reforestation efforts of the
government, the private sector and civil society,
as well as the enactment in 1992 of Republic Act
No. 7858 or the National Integrated Protected
Areas System (NIPAS), more than 200,000
hectares were reforested from 2000 to 2008, the
largest being in 2008, with about 43,610 hectares
(Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016).
10.6
7.2
6.8
6.5
1934
1969
1988
2003
2010
Source: World Bank (2009) and Forest Management Bureau (2012)
Tree crown cover refers to the area covered by the living branches and foliage of trees. It is often expressed as a percentage of
total land area.
2
Forest cover data inventory is done every four (4) years given the high cost of satellite imaging and period of ground validation.
The 2014 data is currently being validated and will be released by 2016. Further, annual increment in forest cover is also
minimal to capture a significant trend.
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Based on the 2010 satellite imageries

released by the National Mapping and
Resource
Information
Authority
(NAMRIA), open forest accounted for 68
percent (4.595 million hectares) of the
total forest cover in the Philippines, 28
percent are closed forest while the rest
are mangrove.
Table 1. Philippine Forest Cover, by Region, 2010 (in area hectares)
The top three regions with the highest

forest cover are Region 2 with 1.04
million hectares, followed by Region 4-B
and the Cordillera Administrative Region
(CAR). The largest area on tree
plantations is in Region 4-B while most of
the mangrove forests are found in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM).
Reforestation. In response to the

substantial deforestation in the past
decades, large-scale reforestation and
rehabilitation programs and activities
were implemented in the country.
Activities ranged from traditional largescale government reforestation projects
and industrial tree plantations to
contract reforestation, communitybased
initiatives,
integrated
development and livelihood projects,
agroforestry, and private tree farming
(Center for International Forestry
Research, 2003).
Closed
Forest
National Capital Region (NCR)
Open
Forest
Mangrove
Total
Forest
2,098
115
2,214
255,553
517,640
773,191
18,390
105,060
1,028
124,477
Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)
485,262
553,344
5,902
1,044,507
Region 3 (Central Luzon)
225,352
294,291
955
520,598
Region 4-A (CALABARZON)
69,544
181,175
18,937
269,656
Region 4-B (MIMAROPA)
97,810
744,530
73,324
915,664
Region 5 (Bicol Region)
39,646
143,416
24,953
208,015
Region 6 (Western Visayas )
67,167
110,146
10,006
187,319
Region 7 (Central Visayas)
11,464
35,798
14,804
62,065
Region 8 (Eastern Visayas)
45,948
426,863
41,654
514,464
Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula)
29,906
120,488
26,523
176,918
Region 10 (Northern Mindanao)
173,962
197,517
6,379
377,858
Region 11 (Davao Region)
160,083
265,754
2,879
428,716
Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN)
54,247
193,202
1,601
249,050
Region 13 (CARAGA)
99,812
557,402
25,898
683,112
ARMM
99,889
557,402
55,574
301,894
1,934,032
4,595,154
310,531
6,839,718
CAR
Region 1 (Ilocos Region)
PHILIPPINES
Source: FMB Philippine Forestry Statistics
Figure 2: Area Reforested by Sector, 1974-2013

350000
300000
250000
Hectare
Among the ten member states of the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), only the Philippines and
Vietnam registered positive increase in
terms of forest cover from 1990 to 2010
with 16.7 percent and 47.4 percent,
respectively (FMB).
Region
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
Data from the DENR-FMB show that

1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013
reforested area in the Philippines
Government Sector
Non-government Sector
Total
generally grew from 1974 to 2013. Of
Source: DENR-FMB
the said areas, most of the reforestation
was done by the government sector led
by the DENR (73%) while 27 percent is contributed by the non-government sector, which includes timber licensees,
holders of forest tenurial instruments and other private organizations.
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From 2010 onwards, a huge increase in

reforestation was observed with the
implementation of the National Greening
Program (NGP)3. As of March 2015, 1.01
million hectares or 85 percent of target
forest area have been planted with
around 602.7 million seedlings. However,
the number of seedlings planted is way
below the target level. The program aims
to plant 1.5 billion trees or about 1,000
trees per hectare. At present, only around
593 trees per hectare have been planted.
Table 2. NGP Annual Accomplishment, 2011-2015Q1
Year
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015 Q1
Total (as of March 2015)
Source : DENR-FMB
Percent
Target Area
Area Planted Accomplishment
(ha)
of Area Planted
100,000
200,000
300,000
300,000
300,000
1,200,000
128,558
221,763
333,160
321,532
9,904
1,014,917
129%
111%
111%
107%
85%
Number of
Seedlings
Planted
89,624,121
125,596,730
182,548,862
195,069,446
9,889,693
602,728,852
In addition, the survival rate of the seedlings planted has been below target. The NGP expected an 85 percent
survival rate, but in the 2013 Audit Report of the Commission on Audit (COA), it was noted that the survival rate for
seedlings planted based on the sample area surveyed was only 68 percent.
Moving Forward. A 2013 Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) study entitled Assessment of the
Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Reforestation Program of the DENR recommends that reforestation programs
should be complemented with sufficient monitoring aside from adequate financial and manpower resources. This is
to assess whether the program components and activities are effective or not, and if necessary, implement changes
and employ measures to sustain their effectivity.
The study also calls for the review of the issuance of Executive Order No. 23 last February 1, 2011, which declared a
moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests nationwide. While it substantially
reduced the illegal logging hotspots in the country, it may have also resulted in the loss of public revenues, incomes
and employment in the logging industry. With the imposition of the log ban, subsistence upland dwellers may also
swarm the forests and indiscriminately cut trees as concessionaires abandon the areas they once protected.
Intensive quantitative and qualitative impact analyses of EO 23 along with other policies should be conducted to see
whether or not these policies should be continued, amended or abolished (Israel, 2013).
In the Senate of the 16th Congress, a number of legislative measures have been filed to protect and develop the
forestry sector. Nine bills (Senate Bill Nos. 30, 45, 520, 531, 675, 1093, 1094, 1644, and 2200) are filed on sustainable
forest management and on tree planting, five bills (SBNs 142, 171, 769, 1308 and 2237) on mangrove forest
protection and preservation, four bills (SBNs 604, 786, 1101 and 1900) on delineating specific forest limits, and the
substitute bill (SBN 2712) on the proposed Expanded NIPAS Act of 2015 providing for the sustainable development
and management of protected areas in the country. The enactment of these legislative proposals would help in the
protection, conservation, utilization, development and sustainable management of the countrys forest resources.
The passage of a national land use policy (SBNs 7, 53 and 150), which has long been proposed, is also warranted to
address deforestation activities. The overlapping and conflicting national laws on land use results in the competing
uses of forest resources without regulation. Hence, it is high time to rationalize land use planning in the country and
put in order the national laws on land uses (such as prime agricultural land, agrarian reform, protected areas,
ancestral domain, fisheries, forestry, mining and housing) that are sector specific.
The NGP is a massive forest rehabilitation program of the government established by virtue of Executive Order No. 26 issued
on February 24, 2011 by President Benigno S. Aquino III. It seeks to grow 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares nationwide
within a period of six years, from 2011 to 2016.
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Philippine Forests

Figure 1. Philippine Forest Cover, 1934-2010

Forest Cover. In 1934, forests comprised more

Source: World Bank (2009) and Forest Management Bureau (2012)

Based on the 2010 satellite imageries

Table 1. Philippine Forest Cover, by Region, 2010 (in area hectares)

The top three regions with the highest

Reforestation. In response to the

National Capital Region (NCR)

Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)

Region 3 (Central Luzon)

Region 4-A (CALABARZON)

Region 4-B (MIMAROPA)

Region 5 (Bicol Region)

Region 6 (Western Visayas )

Region 7 (Central Visayas)

Region 8 (Eastern Visayas)

Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula)

Region 10 (Northern Mindanao)

Region 11 (Davao Region)

Source: FMB Philippine Forestry Statistics

Figure 2: Area Reforested by Sector, 1974-2013

Among the ten member states of the

Data from the DENR-FMB show that

From 2010 onwards, a huge increase in

Table 2. NGP Annual Accomplishment, 2011-2015Q1

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