Empowering indigenous people to conserve the forests through forestry carbon project

Indigenous peoples are viewed as the best protectors of rainforests and their ancestral lands, with conservation projects that make way in recognizing their rights, improve livelihood, utilize traditional systems of resource management and respect for culture.

In a new study conducted by researchers from the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), it found out that community-based forest conservation with the Magbukun Aytas in the Philippines through a forestry carbon project would be technically and socially feasible.

The carbon forestry project, covering 9,775 hectares proposed by the study was designed to reverse the current deforestation trend in the Magbukun Aytas’ ancestral domain. These indigenous peoples are living in the Bataan Natural Park in the Philippines covering 23,688 hectares of land.

“ The Aytas need funds to allow them to conserve and manage their ancestral lands, which are under constant threat. The conservation work would focus on reforestation, enrichment planting, and forest protection,” said the EEPSEA study entitled, “Can Carbon Forestry provide a solution for community-led conservation? A case study from the Philippines”, led by Margaret Calderon from the College of Forestry and natural Resources at the University of the Philippines Los Banos.

EEPSEA, which was established in 1993, supports training and research in environmental and resource economics across Southeast Asia. It aims to strengthen local capacity for the economic analysis of environmental issues so that researchers can provide sound advice to policymakers.

In the study, the reforestation component would be undertaken in brush land areas while enrichment planting and forest protection would be implemented in second growth and old growth forests, respectively.

On the other hand, if no steps are taken to reduce deforestation in the Aytas’ ancestral lands, the carbon contained in the region would drop to around 1.16 million tons by 2040 from 1.31 million tons in 2011.

While the Magbukun Aytas already have an Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan as well as well-established benefit-sharing and conflict resolution mechanisms in place, a forest carbon project would be feasible, the report finds. In fact, the Aytas issued a resolution in 2011 stating their willingness to be involved in a Payment for Ecosystem Services, specifically on the carbon sequestration potential of their forests.

Analyzing the data gathered by the researchers, they stated that under the ‘high scenario’ at least 100 percent of the old growth forest would be protected, about 80 percent of the second growth forest would be enriched, and about 50 percent of the brushland would be reforested, with a net present value of P3.5 million. In the ‘low scenario’, the respective figures would be 100 percent, 50 percent and 20 percent, with a net present value of million.

The study also identified potential buyers of the forestry carbon such as those firms from the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), and from the Subic Bay Freeport and Clark Freeport Zones.

“ The proposed project has a high potential to promote environmental stability of the Magbukun Aytas’ ancestral domain. Funding for this project, therefore, must be made available to ensure that technical and financial assistance is provided,” the study stressed.

It further suggested that activities would be undertaken in the identification of the project boundary, assessment of carbon stocks of the various land uses in the ancestral domain, conduct of biophysical survey, and the conduct of socio-economic survey.

See the full research here http://www.eepsea.org/pub/pb/2013-PB6_Calderon.pdf