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Some of the most severely degraded forests of the Philippines are being restored by local community groups whose members are newcomers to forestry. As stakeholders, they are developing their own criteria and indicators for evaluating the environmental and social consequences of their field practices, with the technical assistance of the Philippine natural resources agency and other advisers. Eventually, those homegrown criteria may be used for external assessments by international certifying organizations. Although establishing criteria and indicators cannot guarantee sustainable forest management, initial results indicate that they can prevent field practices from further degrading the country's forest ecosystems and forestdependent communities.
The Philippines presents an interesting case study in international forestry for several reasons. First, the severe degradation of the forest resource base serves as a warning to other developing countries about the dangers of rapid exploitation. Second, a vibrant effort in community forestry demonstrates one way to build support for restoring forestland. Finally, joint monitoring of environmental performance builds trust and confidence between community groups, local governments, and national forestry agencies. The result is an encouraging picture of how social justice and environmental rehabilitation can point the way toward more sustainable forest development. This article considers recent developments and focuses on a participatory tool for verifying that forest practices are achieving the desired ends of long-term health for both forest ecosystems and forest-dependent communities.
People First
The Philippine forests encompassed 17 million hectares in 1934. Official government "forestland" stands at 15.88 million hectares, or 53 percent of the country (FMB 1997), but in 1996 only 5.5 million hectares of this area actually had forest cover (Foronda 1998), and only 980,000 hectares was covered by old-growth. Vegetative cover on the remainder is scrub, brush, grass, or crops. Approximately 20 million people (of a total population of 73 million) live on these lands. Solutions to the loss of Philippine forests are debated in the press and among activist nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and include, at one extreme, a total ban on logging. There is strong public support for protecting the remaining forests from further destruction (Vitug 1993; Arquiza 1996). President Joseph Ejercito Estrada declared support for a total "log ban" in his inaugural address on June 30, 1998. Community forestry is widely seen as a way to...