A Strategic Forestry Plan (SPF) being mapped out by multi-government agencies is now finalizing a set of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and forest certification.
The forest certification is a seal issued to a lumber supplier or exporter showing proof that his wood comes from a sustainably managed forest resource.
With the certification system, lumber suppliers are compelled to support a forest management system that will not deplete logging resources since there will come a time when foreign markets will no longer accept a supplier without such certification.
"Asia Pacific exporters such as Malaysia and Indonesia are actively developing their own certification schemes both as a defensive market strategy and as a means of improving their forest management practices. The moves by these major forestry countries may encourage or force others in the region to follow suit," said the SPF plan.
The SPF is being drafted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Science and Technology (Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, Natural Resources Research and Development), Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, and other related non-government organizations and agencies.
As part of the global consciousness on the rapid rate of deforestation in relation to environmental sustainability, many countries have cut timber harvest and have shifted to more environment-friendly forestry systems.
With the 1989 lumber export ban, the Philippines has become a lumber importer after having been an exporter for some time. It exported a total of 1.22 million cubic meters (cu.m.) of lumber from 1990 to 2003.
Lumber were shipped to France, Taiwan, Belgium, Belize, Canada, China, Denmark, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Hongkong, Buam, India, Japan, Korea, Palau, Singapore, UAE, Vietnam, and USA.
In 2003, imports flooded the local market totalling to 117,082 cu.m. coming from Canada, New Zealand, US, and Brazil. Other suppliers were Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, Sarawak, and Indonesia.
"The policy not only included banning lumber export but also liberalized the lumber import market to satisfy local demand. However, wood processing industries experienced an upswing in exports due to government’s policy encouraging value-added product export," the SPF reported.
The country’s lumber production has consistently declined from 841,000 cu.m. in 1990 to 524,199 cu.m. in 2003. The reduction was attributable to the decrease in timber license agreements (TLA) brought about by the 1991 logging ban in old growth forests.
From a total of 2.81 million hectares covered by 75 TLAs with an annual allowable cut (AAC) of 4.73 million cu.m. in 1990, TLA areas dropped to 616,000 hectares under 15 TLAs with AAC of 234,000 cu.m. in 2003.
Amid the ban, government issued more industrial forest management agreements (IFMA) and industrial tree plantation agreements. TLA concession holders were encouraged to convert their TLAs to IFMA which is geared toward large-scale forest plantation.
The ban caused the shift from logging in old-growth forest (dipterocarp species) to growing of plantation species. In 2003, a total of 15,088 hectares was reforested of which 88 percent was done by government.
