Caraga forests being plundered, group discloses

A non-government organization (NGO) has claimed that falcatta trees planted as part of reforestation activities of timber license agreement (TLA) holders in the Caraga region are being massively cut down and delivered daily to plywood mills in the cities of Butuan and Cagayan de Oro.

According to the Citizens Log Watch, there is no way that the falcatta logs could have been sourced from legitimate tree plantations.

Thus, it said observers are wondering why the leadership of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) "has not moved at all against the plunder of these state assets."

In a statement, the NGO said 50 truckloads of falcatta logs are being delivered everyday, amounting to 1,500 cubic meters.

This volume, it added, requires the harvesting of 30 hectares daily or 900 hectares a month.

"The tree farms remaining in Caraga of less than 10,000 hectares cannot be the source of such huge falcatta logs," it said.

The Citizens Log Watch alleged that the former DENR leadership closed seven plywood mills for alleged illegal activities, but reportedly lifted the ban just a week later.

It further alleged that poaching increased after log traders were allowed to move falcatta logs using documents that they themselves issued, instead of coming from the DENR.

The government has a 30 percent share in the falcatta trees planted as part of reforestation requirements, it said.

The Citizens Log Watch estimates that the government is losing at least P1 million per day from illegal logging allegedly financed by the plywood mills.

"The losses easily exceed the plunder level of P50 million in less than two months," it said.