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Abstract
The Philippines has a total land mass of 30 million hectares, 52.7 percent of which is classified as forestlands. Various management strategies have been laid in place through policies and laws to protect the forestlands, but forest degradation and extractive industry-focused legislations have significantly contributed to the loss of forest cover. To address these problems, three forest protection initiatives were looked into across three case study areas, namely, tenurial arrangements, apprehension and enforcement mechanisms, and the National Greening Program (NGP). Lapses in the implementation process characterized by the absence of site-species matching and failure to incorporate site demographics and topographical issues, and weak institutionalization of the legal support, particularly at the subnational level, remained present. In response, best practices were identified from each area and recommendations were drawn to improve the current policy landscape. These included the use of controlled use zones as management tool, stronger interface with local stakeholders, strengthening of legal support for City Environment and Natural Resources Office, use of Electronic Filing and Monitoring System portal, institutionalization of the Lawin Program, practice of sitespecies matching, and stronger stakeholder participation in the NGP. Reforms in the structure of oversight agencies and an update in the national baseline policy were sought in the form of an Environmental Protection and Enforcement Bureau proposal and the persistent lobbying for the Sustainable Forest Management Bill.
Introduction
Background of the study
The Philippines has a total land mass of approximately 30 million hectares (ha), 47.3 percent (14.2 million ha) of which is classified as alienable and disposable (A&D) lands while the other 52.7 percent (15.8 million ha) is identified as forestlands. Forestlands are further subdivided into closed or open forest formations, young natural stands, plantations, forest nurseries, seed orchards, bamboo, palm, and fern (Philippine National REDD-Plus Strategy 2012). Considering the share of forestlands in the country's land composition, the Philippines was recognized as one of the megadiverse regions with most tropical forests in the world, nourishing biodiversity, and carbon-rich ecosystems that "sequester carbon through reforestation, agroforestry, and conservation of existing forests" as indicated by the lush forest cover (Rubas-Leal et al. 2017, p. 11).
Issued in 1975, Presidential Decree (PD) 705 became the first and only blueprint of forest management in the country. It tried to...