In the forests of Sierra Madre, CI is currently working with the local governments, communities, the DENR and donors from the private sector through the Philippine Peñablanca Sustainable Reforestation and Quirino Forest Carbon Projects. Both passed the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards garnering Gold Level ratings—the first of its kind in the Philippines. CCB Standards is the most widely used and globally respected international standards for evaluating forest-based projects. These standards help ensure that projects provide multiple benefits expected from them such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation and community well-being.
A third-party auditor of international reputation validates the projects every five years or can do spot checks intermittently to monitor whether they live up to the standards and can revoke their global ratings if they fail to maintain compliance. These projects have been started with appropriate consultation with the stakeholders covering the local communities, the local government and the DENR to agree on action plans. These plans are implemented in areas where these stakeholders jointly take part in conserving biodiversity and bringing back the forest, while sustainably providing themselves with alternative livelihoods.
The Peñablanca and Quirino projects entail working with local communities to establish, protect and maintain at least 2,600 hectares of reforestation and agroforestry areas, through conservation agreements with farmer beneficiaries to ensure that they keep their part of the bargain such as stopping unsustainable practices of firewood collection and charcoal making. While the forest areas involved make up only a small part of the Sierra Madre mountain range – the largest block of remaining natural rainforest in the Philippines – it is hoped that the two projects will serve as models to be scaled up and replicated in other areas. It is also a good example of a private-public partnership in conservation working at its best with the private sector providing the necessary seed funding.
In the Palawan Biodiversity Corridor, the proclamation of the Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape paved the way for efforts that will protect the 33 watersheds in the area and its capability to provide various forest-based, ecosystem services that are estimated to have a total economic value (TEV) of US$5.5 billion.
These ecosystems services include water, soil conservation, flood control, carbon sequestration, non-timber forest products and the high potential of waterfalls, caves and other culturally-interesting areas for ecotourism. The watersheds within MMPL are extremely valuable to the lowland agricultural economy in the area. Again, beyond timber.
Key Biodiversity Areas
There are plenty of opportunities for ecosystems conservation, forest protection and forest restoration projects. The country has 228 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA), 116 of which contain forested habitats while the rest are major marine or wetland habitats. The terrestrial KBAs were compiled through the collaboration among the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Conservation International, Haribon Foundation, and other expert groups
These sites represent the key habitats for globally threatened and endemic species, and are therefore considered globally significant for biodiversity conservation and habitat protection. These are where we can possibly prioritize investments for forest protection and restoration while we set aside the adjacent areas for ecologically-sound forest management and agroforestry to sustain community livelihoods.
Many of these KBAs still lack formal government protection, while waiting in the wings are an additional 51 Candidate KBAs, which may be elevated to KBA status when new data or surveys come in that will confirm the presence of globally threatened species.
Year of Forests, Year of Hope
The world observes the International Year of Forests in 2011, and as the year unfolds, let it not be a tribute to a dying resource, but a celebration of hope as we all work together towards healthier and life-sustaining forests for future generations.
(This article originally appeared in the Talk of the Town, Opinion section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on February 12, 2011)