Governance Challenges in Community-Based Forest Management in the Philippines

Abstract

Community-based forest management (CBFM) is the national strategy for forest conservation in the Philippines. This research explores state-led CBFM in the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP). Inside the park, multiple CBFM project sites exist under two state-led programs: the Integrated Social Forestry Program and the Community-Based Forest Management Program. These CBFM initiatives in the park have been hindered by the combination of local proximate factors—conservation not being a local priority, a lack of experience in conservation and community resource management, and a lack of awareness of state-led initiatives and associated regulations—and underlying structural factors—policy design and implementation that fails to adequately address these proximate factors, a lack of sustained government support for local projects, and overlapping but poorly integrated initiatives between offices across institutional scales and on the ground. The success of future state-led conservation initiatives in the park partially hinges on rectifying these problems.

Keywords:

• CBNRM
• conservation
• decentralization
• governance
• institutions
• Philippines
• protected areas
• tenure

Notes

Barangays Bagong Silang and Bago were selected because they lie entirely within the boundaries of the NNNP. In both of these barangays, a stratified random sample of 40 households was selected for a total of 80 households. Complete sampling strategy and statistical data on these households is provided in Cagalanan (2013). Here, analysis includes additional data gathered from 15 households in barangay Puey, which was one of the other barangays in the NNNP known to have an indigenous population. The 15 households were randomly selected from the same stratified groups as the other 80 households. However, data from households in Puey were left out of the statistical analysis in Cagalanan (2013) because the barangay lies only partially within the boundaries of the NNNP, and since there were no markers of the park boundary and no exact knowledge of its location even by the barangay leader, completion of the random sampling strategy in line with that used in Bagong Silang and Bago, required for statistical analysis, was not possible.

Formally organized focus-group meetings were conducted in Bagong Silang and Bago as a method of data validation. No formally organized focus-group meeting was held in Puey because households interviewed were not able to commit to a time, but informal spontaneous group discussions with the indigenous households did occur there.

“Community” does not translate easily into the local dialect. A significant amount of time during each household interview was devoted to discussing the concept and the household's views about it. The conclusions drawn here are based on the open-ended interview format with lengthy discussion.

Recent efforts by the state to revamp CBFM efforts are beginning to improve awareness of the park at least for CBFMP member households.