Forest Conservation and Reforestation Program

Media

Part of Forestry Leaves

Title: Forest Conservation and Reforestation Program
Language: English
Year: 1954
Rights
Fulltext: Forest Conservation and Reforestation Progam Approved October 1, 1954 by The First Philippine Forest Conservation and Reforestation Conference I-NECESaARY BALANCE OF FOREST COVER 1. Determine as soon as possible but not later than three years the permanent forest areas of the Philippines; to be classified as follows: (a) Protection forest including Nation· al Parks. (1>) Production forest. 2. A Protection Forest Committee, com· posed of the Director of Bureau of Forestry as the Chairman, a representative each of National Power Corporation, Bureau of Public Works, Bureau of Mines, and Mr. Juan Arellano, will be created by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources to dt.fine, determine and advise the Department what are the areas to be declared protection forest areas; 3. In the determination of the Protection Forest, give priority to the determination of watershed protection areas and still higher priority to the watershed protection areas of our main rivers and lakes traversing big agricultural areas; 4. The Protection Forest Committee will in turn appoint three-man field grou~s which will undertake the field survey and recommend the actual protection forest areas for each of the river systems of the Philippines, as may be defined and tentatively determin· ed in the maps by the Protection Forest Committee.· This will be composed of a representative each of the Bureau of ForDecember, 1954 estry, the Provi_ncial Governor and the Bureau of Public Works or National Power Corporation; 5. Protection forests shall be subjected to minimum logging operations; 6. Unforested areas of protection forests that are still public lands shall be given priority in reforestation to be undertaken either by the Government, including participation of the Department of Education, or by private initiative including civic organizations (See No. VI). The Committees mentioned in Nos. 3 and 4 will determine which portions shall be reforested by the Government and which portions will be leased to private parties as woodland farms or tree farms; 7. The necessary legislation will be recom· mended for the reforestation and/or soil conservation of private lands within watersheds as above defined; 8. Permanent commercial forest and per· manent grazing lands shall be so classified within a period of three years by the See> retary of Agriculture and Natural Resources upon the recommendation of a Soil Cla• sification Committee composed of the Director of the Bureau of Forestry as Chairman, the Director of the Bureau of Soil Conservation and the Director of the Bureau of Lands as members. This committee in turn will appoint three-man field groups representing each Bureau to make a comprehensive survey of> such areas by provinces. Instead of spreading the work of these field Pap 3 groups throughout the whole Philippines, work should be concentrated first in a few provinces, gradually moving to other provinces; 9. In the planning of the location of national or provincial roads, as much as possible these roads should not be run through permanent forest areas; 10. It is important to maintain and even recoup the daily afternoon showers formerly prevalent in Mindanao and to this end, it is necessary that the forest cover of Davao and other provinces of Mindanao be returned to what it was two or ·three decades ago. For this purpose, a Mindanao Forest Committee will be created by the Department Secretary to determine the permanent forest areas of Mindanao. The Committee will be composed of the five-man Protection Forest Committee mentioned in No. 2, together with the Director of Weather Bureau and a farmer of Mindanao to be designated by the Secretary; 11. In provinces or areas where the forest has already been reduced to an amount less than the required minimum, no new forest concession will be granted until the area of forest has again reached the required minimum, provided, however, that this prohibition will not apply to forest capable of sustained-yield management; 12. The Commi~ees mentioned in Nos. 2~ 8, and 10 shall submit to the Department Secretary the personnel and budget needed to finish the classification work above mentioned, within the period of three years. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, thru the President of the Philippines, will request Congress for the necessary amount to undertake the work outlined herein. II-LOGGING SYSTEM UNDER SUSTAINED/ YIELD ! 1. Logging operations on all areas declared permanent forests or ~~~ not yet declared permanent forests but \likely to be '\.\\ Pa&e 4 I declared as such, will be under sustained yield management. To this end, in all such areas, as a general rule, the selective logging system will be enforced by the Director of the Bureau of Forestry. In areas where selective logging in the opinion of the forest licensee should not be enforced, the licensee shall apply to the Director of Forestry for an exemption. He shall describe the portion or portions of the concession where in his opinion the selective logging system should not be employed, and after the proper investigation to be conducted by the Bureau of Forestry at the expense of the licensee, the Director may grant the exemption required, on any of the following grounds: (a) the area very likely will not be declared permanent forest; or (b) a modified selective logging system, including the uniform treatment system, because of the special conditions of the forest, may bring about more economically a sustained yield management. In this connection, the silvicultural system to be adopted should take into consideration the economics of logging, but without sacrific:ing the objective of sustained yield management. This Qew regulation will ~e enforced beginning July 1, 1955. 2. All cutting rules shall be enforced strictly by the Bureau of Forestry; 3. Licensees who have cooperated fully in the efficient management of the forest will be granted an extension of their licenses up to 25 years, renewable for another 25 years. Licensees who have managed properly their respective areas shall be granted priority in the operation of the same even after the expiration of the 50-year license; 4. Forest research should be intensified; 5. Study and recommend to Congress such changes in the law on reforestation fees, in line with the new i>olicy, including changing its name to forest conservation fees. FORESTRY LEAVES III.-FOREST UTILIZATION IN RELATION TO FOREST CONSERVATION 1. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources will create a Departmental Committee to-(a) Promote the commercial utilization of by-products from logging and sawmilling operations for possible manufacture into paper, paper pulp, wallboard, wood distillation, etc.; (b) Encourage the utilization for commercial and industrial purposes of the bulk of tree species in Philippine forests not at present utilized but left to die and rot; ( c) Study the economic use of wood shavings and sawdust especially for fuel of trucks; (d) Coordinate lthe researches to be undertaken by the Forest Products Laboratory and the Institute of Science and Technology; ( e) Accelerate the experiments on the seasoning and preservation of woods and other forest products by chemical and other processes in order to lengthen the life of woods; and (f) Promote the reduction of sawmilling wastes through the use of improved and more efficient methods. 2. All new industties, under No. 1 should be tax-exempt, and the RFC shall be requested to provide adequate financing for the same; 3. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall study the advisability of regulating the exportation of logs to any country to an amount not exceeding the local consumption requirements of the importing country-and to this end a Committee will be created by the Secretary. IV.-PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF THE FORESTS 1. Boundaries of permanent forests will be clearly marked as soon as they are determinDecember, 1954 ed by stenciling trees (or some other means) along the boundary with a legend "PERMANENT FOREST", th~ legend to be at intervals of one in English to every five in the local dialect; 2. Provide one forest guard to protect a forest sector of about 2,000 hectares each, and wildlife therein giving preference to the protection of the perimeter of the forest. The guard shall live right in his sector so as not to require expenditures in traveling and per diem. In the appointment of forest guards, preference should be given to married men having an able-bodied dependent willing to live with him in the forest. Each guard will be allowed to cultivate a lot of not more than two hectares to enable him to raise temporary or permanent food crops for his needs and those of his family. The cultivated lot shall be planted to trees before it is abandoned; As funds may permit, forest guards will be equipped with a badge and a uniform, and with a two-way radio communication system to enable them to be in frequent contact with the district headquarters. When practicable, forest guards will be provided \vith a horse or a horse allowance; 3. In the expenditure of reforestation fees, priority shall be given to protection of forest ahead of reforestation. To this end, use a big portion of the reforestation fees to pay for the salaries of the 540 new forest guards to be appointed; provided, only, that the present nurseries will not be discontinued; 4. Priority in the areas to be guarded will be given to-(a) recently cut-over areas, to insure that the seedlings and small trees of the cut-over area which will bring about the natural regeneration of the forest is not burned and destroyed by kaifigineros; (b) reforested areas; ( c) strategic areas within watershed of headwaters; ( d) strategic areas of forested national Page 5 parks when they are necessary to supplement the forest guards appointed and financed within the limited income of the National Parks Commission; and ( e) strategic areas of commercial forests not yet applied by a logging concession. 5. Request Congress for an additional appropriation of one million pesos a year for additional forest guards; 6. The Philippine Air Force has agreed to carry in its planes whenever possible forest officers to detect and report kaifigin makings in the forest especially during the dry season, when kaifigineros are most active in destroying the forests. A group of forest officers will be detailed with the Philippine Air Force to do this work; 7. Request the Philippine Air Lines and flying clubs to cooperate along the same line; 8. The Philippine Constabulary and the Department of Public W arks will cooperate with the Bureau of Forestry in the enforcement of Forest Laws and Regulations, and to this end, proper deputation will be extended to members of the Constabulary, and to personnel of the Department of Public Works; 9. A coordinating committee of three officials of the Philippine Constabulary, two officials of the Bureau of Forestry, one from the Department of Justice and one from the Department of Public Works will be jointly appointed by the Department Heads concerned, which will meet not less than once a month to achieve a more effective implementation of the enforcement of Forest Laws; 10. The present appropriation of Pl00.00 granted to· the Bureau of Forestry to cover traveling expenses of persons not employees of the government should be increased to Pl0,000. 00. At present, forest officers find difficulty in securing witnesses for court cases against kaiiigineros. The witnesses do not like to serve as such in court trials because they lose their day's work in going to the Page 6 town for which they are not compensated. Witnesses should be given per diems not more than P4. 00 per day and a rea8onable allowance for transportation; 11. The requirement to have timber concessionaires employ forest guards should be extended to holders of ordinary timber licenses covering a forest area of 1,000 hectares or more, as follows: 1,000 to 5,000 hectares -1 Guard Over 5,000 to 10,000 hectares -2 Guards Over 10,000 hectares -2 Guards plus 1 guard for every additional 10,000 hectares and fraction thereof, if necessary, at the discretion of the Director of Forestry. 12. Surveyors and other persons who enter the public forests and forest reserves with the intention to survey lands and mining claims without authority from the Director of Forestry should be prosecuted The surveyors should be warned now; 13. The services of the Community Development Councils, and other semi-official civic organizations, especially in the barrios, shall be enlisted to render voluntary service to help forest guards in the protection of forests; 14. The Secretary of Agriculture will make the necessary representations to the Department of Finance so that Provincial and City Assessors will stop accepting assessments of land within forest areas. V.-REFORESTATION BY THE GOVERNMENT 1. Accelerate the present rate of 1,000 hectares being reforested annually until at least 4,000 hectares a year is attained; 2. Give priority in reforestation work to critical barren areas within watersheds of hydroelectric, irrigation projects and watersheds of destructive rivers, such as the Agna, Abra, Cagayan, Pampanga, and other rivers. Reforestation work should not be spread thinly as it is now done in the 38 projects in operation but should be confined to not more than 20 projects; FORESTRY LEAVE: 3. As reforestation by direct seeding is faster, it should be employed when warranted; 4. Reforestation by plane ,the gun and pelleted method should be studied and experimented; 5. Reforestation in the upper ridges rather than in the lower slopes should be generally preferred, as it is less likely to be destroyed by kaiiigineros, and in time it may provide the natural reforestation of the lower slopes; 6. Reforested areas should be given adequate protection, more especially during the dry season; 7. The reforestation carried out in Cebu by the Bureau of Public Schools should be extended to other provinces, and to this end, the Department of Education will be I'equested to detail in the main office of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources one of its officials to direct and coordinate the reforestation activities of the Public Schools and Community Development Councils along this line; 8. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources will direct the Bureau of Forestry and the Bureau of Agricultural Extension to plant forest trees along public roads, and to request the Department of Public Works to attend to this work; 9. Establish more forest nurseries to supply not only the needs for seedlings for public reforestation, but also for private reforestation; the Bureau of Forestry will extend help and cooperation to the nurseries of the Public Schools as may be requested; 10. Request Congress for an additional appropriation. of three hundred thousand pesos annually; and. for aid to provinces in the establishment of provincial nurseries; 11. The boundaries of the reforested areas should be marked with a legend ''PERMANENT FOREST", in durable signboards or stenciled on trees as prescribed for permanent forests; 12. 'rhe Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources will draft the necessary legislation for presentation to the Congress December, 1954 of the Philippines, with the end in view of creating an ''Emergency Conservation and Reforestation Corps" to be composed of graduated or graduating high school students, whose purpose it will be to act as emergency personnel under the direction of the Director of Forestry at a minimum compensation to be determined by Congress; 13. Prepare two programs of ·completing tbe reforestation of the permanent forests, one in 10 years, and another in 20 years, and submit the same to Congress for necessary additional appropriation. VI.-REFORESTATION THROUGH PRIVATE INITIATIVE 1. To encourage the reforestation of denuded areas, in permanent forest areas, the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, upon recommendation of the Director of Forestry, may grant leases to qualified applicants. Leases may be of two kinds: (a) Tree Farm Lease, or (b) Woodland Lease. A tree farm lease is for the planting of economic or medicinal trees that are not for lumber utilization, like coconut trees, rubber, coffee, citrus,-bananas, etc. A woodland lease is for the planting of trees good for lumber utilization. 2. A tree farm lease shall be subject tQ the following conditions: (a) It shall not exceed 1,000 hectares for each person or corporation; (b) They shall be for a period of 25 years renewable for another period of 25 years at the option of the lease; ( c) The leasee shall be allowed to cultivate not more than four ( 4) hectares of the land under lease for agricultural purposes to plant temporary food crops for the use of the men employed by the lessees; Provided, that for areas under lease of 100 hectares or less, only one ( 1) hectare will be allowed for cultivation and for areas less than 10 hectares, only one-tenth (1/10) of the area will be allowed for cultivation; Page 7 ( d) The leasee shall pay the rental fixed by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Forestry Administrative Order No. 4-5; 3. A woodland lease shall be subject to the following conditions: (a) It shall not exceed 2,000 hectares; Provided, that, an amendment to the law will be recommended to authorize to increase the same to a maximum of thirty thousand; (b) The land under lease shall be planted only to forest trees, the species to be approved by the Director of Forestry; ( c) They shall be for a period of 25 years starting from the time of the first harvest renewable for another period of 25 years; ( d) Areas developed under woodland lease agreement will be free of rental; Provided, that, one-half of the regular forest charges rates on trees planted under this lease agreement are paid to the government at the time the same are cut, collected and removed for sale by the leasee. 4. Enforce strictly Lands Administrative Order No. 16 requiring applicants for public lands to plant 10 % of the area applied for with forest or economic trees; 5. Distribute free of charge seedlings of forest trees, under receipt, to public or private schools, rural and civic organizations and individual farmers to encourage the planting of forest trees on two or three rows along boundary lines of farms, and for general reforestation. VIL-EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR FOREST CONSERVATION 1. Materials on forest, forestry, and horticulture for inclusion in textbooks for elementary and high schools shall be prepared. For this purpose, a Committee will be created by the Department Secretary to gather and edit materials. Meanwhile, a unit on trees and their values should be incorporated Page 8 in the social studies curriculum in the elementary and high school levels; 2. A wider and more practical observance of Arbor Day should be followed. Arbor Day should be supplemented with a program of continuous tree plantings and maintenance of trees throughout the year. Active participation of all elements of the community should be the goal and quotas of number of trees to be planted and taken care by each element should be established. In the case of school participation, the pupils and teachers should participate actively in the tree planting projects. The cooperative spirit of schools, community development councils, barrio councils, civic organizations and municipalities should be aroused. Brochures and pamphlets on forest should be made available for use by leaders of various community groups to generate enthusiasm and give them working knowledge on the conduct of t.he campaign; 3. Regular lectures and instructions in all schools and community assemblies, both in English and vernacular, should be given by competent men; 4. Utilization of more visual aids to help in awakening forest and horticultural consciouness, especially at barrio levels, shall be undertaken. Posters, cinemas, charts, cartoons and slides should dramatize the soilconserving and rain-producing functions of trees and forests; 5. Books and literature on elementary and horticulture should be made available in town libraries; 6. Public relations and informative campaign work should be given more emphasis in the curriculum of the College of Forestry; 7. Kaiiigineros should be contacted either personally or at least with printed material thrown by plane and advised of the damage that their practice is occasioning the country. They should be resettled as fast as possible to agricultural areas, and on non-Christian reservations; 8. Public recognition must be given to (Continued on page 75) FORESTRY LEAVES FOREST CONSERVATION ... · (Continued from page 8) outstanding civic leaders by offering rewards end certificates of recognition; 9. Civic organizations, Provincial Agricultural Councils and Provincial Boards should be encouraged to establish at least one botanical garden, one forest nursery, or one forest park in each province and city to instill in our people the love and beauty of trees. VIII-POLICY ON KAI~GINEROS 1. Early resettlement of old kaiiigineros on tree farms on leased forest lands to be terraced, or in agricultural lands and nonChristian reservations and to obtain the cooperation of NARRA and EDCOR to this end; 2. Strict application of the penalty for violating the Forest Law, on new kaifi.gineros, especially ''the professional squatters" and old kaifi.gineros who refuse to resettle. Secure the cooperation of the Philippine Air Force, of the Philippine Constabulary, of the City and Municipal Officials, the Provincial Boards, the Provincial Fiscal, the Department of Public Works, and the Department of Justice to this end. IX-IMPLEMENTATION" OF THE PROGRAM Recommend to the President the creation of a National Forestry Council to implement this program by the different Departments of the Government with the cooperation of the civic organizations and the public. Copies of this Program be furnished the President, members of Congress, the Cabinet, Provincial and Municipal officials, civic organizations and schools. The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall exert every effort to secure from Congress adequate financial support to implement this program, and shall seek the cooperation of FOA. Season's Greetings to all our Friends: T. H. VALDERRAMA & SONS AND VALDERRAMA LUMBER MFRS. CO., INC. Log and Lumber Manufacturers & Exporters P. 0. Box 157 Bacolod City December, 1954 T. H. VALDERRAMA President & Gen. Manager Page 75