It is common knowledge that in one way or another, communities in the past cut, extract and even commercially utilized forest resources in different modes and mechanisms. All of the upland communities utilize timber and other resources in order to subsist. With the entry of cash economy, people in the upland cut trees and extracted forest resources in exchange for cash and other goods from the lowland necessary to improve their existence.

Today, the question as to the sustainability of community logging could be answered from different perspectives: Others said that it is sustainable and viable by the mere fact that for a long time, community logging (whether legal or illegal) existed in different communities even to this day. On the other hand, others blamed forest denudation to these logging practices and said that CBFM program could perpetuate the deforestation and ensure the inevitable loss of the forest resources.

From another standpoint, community logging has not been tried and tested in the Philippines. CBFM was not able to put up a model area for such a test. Thousands of communities were granted with CBFM agreement and were given the rights to the forest areas but only a few of these CBFMA holders were allowed to log and harvest from their forest, one reason is that DENR has very strict rules and requirements for Resource Use Permit (RUP).

I believe that giving some rights and responsibility without devolving power to the community is not community forestry.

The very few who were able to harvest timber got their permit because of some politicians backing them up in their dealings with DENR. Some of them were able to operate a logging concession because of the capital investment from big businessmen who would then control the prices of their timber. A logging activity backed up by politicians or financed by businessmen is
for me, not community logging.

I come to the point of thinking that community logging in its truest sense did not happen in most of the CBFM communities I have been. When proper devolution of power and responsibility of the forest resources happens, when the communities were immune to the influence of businessmen and politicians, only then can we really tell whether community logging is sustainable or not. We cannot properly be able to evaluate the sustainability of a certain endeavour unless we have tested it in its entirety.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion