DENR suspends issuance of wood processing permits

MANILA, Philippines –  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has temporarily stopped the issuance of wood processing permits for sawmills, mini-sawmills and veneer and plywood plants. 

At the same time, all operating wood processing plants are required to submit to the Task Force on Anti-Illegal Logging on or before March 4, 2011 their source of logs or wood for the next five years, together with the corresponding supply contracts and location maps, according to DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje.

The order is contained in DENR Memorandum 52 which set a Feb. 28, 2011 deadline for the removal of all logging tools and equipment, such as chainsaws, bulldozers and graders, from all natural and residual forests nationwide.

Paje said the Feb. 28 deadline was imposed “to ensure that no further timber harvesting shall be done following the imposition of the logging moratorium by President Aquino.”

Executive Order 23 imposed a total log ban on all natural and residuals forests and the creation of an anti-illegal logging task force.

Paje said the pull-out of all logging and cutting paraphernalia is in consonance with EO 23 issued by President Aquino last Feb. 1.

In the DENR memorandum, Paje likewise suspended the acceptance and processing of new, as well as the renewal or extension of, integrated operations plans, annual work plans or resource use permits in all natural and residual forests.

 “This memorandum effectively limits the processing of application permits of forest tenure holders within their plantation sites only,” Paje said.

Meanwhile, Agham party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones urged the DENR to also conduct an inventory of the wood that the sawmills have.

At the same time, Palmones is also trying to convince the DENR to more adequately address the issue of fuel wood, pointing out that contributing to deforestation is the uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel wood to produce charcoal or “uling.”

Palmones said around 40 million cubic meters of wood are actually harvested for fuel wood per annum, as compared to only three million cubic meters p.a. for industrial wood.