RP deforestation among highest in East, Southeast Asia

MANILA, Philippines - Studies by the Asian Development Bank revealed that the Philippines has one of the highest annual deforestation rates in East and Southeast Asia at 1.4 percent, a senior House member said.

This report prompted Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara to sound the alarm over the state of forest destruction in the country, described as the most rapid and massive in the world.

Economic giants China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea belong to the group of nations known as East Asia.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ neighbors are Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Brunei.

To address the problem, the House deputy majority leader urged the government to institute a self-sustaining forest management program that will provide incentives to tree planters in forests and other public lands.

“There is no single solution to all these problems. The Tree for Legacy Act as a Forest Management program is certainly one of them,” Angara said in filing House Bill 137, otherwise known as the “Tree for Legacy Act.”

Angara said the measure, if passed into law, would ensure equitable access and sharing of rights to natural resources including development, management, protection and utilization by providing opportunities for the people to participate actively in forest resource development.

HB 137 recognizes the role of local government units, people’s organizations and the community in general as effective partners of the government in the implementation and management of community-based forestry projects and other forest development projects.

It also intends to encourage and empower the citizenry to share responsibility for the management and maintenance of ecological balance within their community with the national government and the LGUs.

Under the bill, the proposed Tree for Legacy program shall be a nationwide reforestation program to be administered by LGUs in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other concerned government agencies.

The program encourages the active participation of individuals, indigenous peoples, concerned citizens or groups such as youth, students, and even police and the military and religious groups by providing incentives as well as rights and privileges to tree planters.

It aims to attain the following objectives: 1) enhance public awareness and participation in environmental restoration and protection; 2) encourage the participation of the public and private civil society in the reforestation program of the government; 3) generate incentives and additional sources of income and livelihood without impairing the ecological balance of our natural resources; 4) reduce poverty in the uplands; 5) cover all available land possible; and 6) accelerate implementation of reforestation programs with minimal government assistance.