Wasteful DENR Reforestations

When I was still working at the House of Representatives (HOR) from 1991 to 1999, I would attend many Committee hearings and among those that I followed in the early 90s was the implementation of various large-scale government (DENR, LGUs, etc.) reforestation of denuded uplands in the country funded by the ADB, OECF (Japan government), World Bank and other foreign aid bodies. The impression I got then was that there was huge money involved, there were lots of  reforestation projects with little or even zero monitoring if the seedlings indeed became trees, or the planting was only for photo-ops, submit reports and get the money.

Year in and year out, decades upon decades, the cycle is repeated. Most or majority of DENR-implemented reforestation projects are wasteful. One example is the annual reforestation of degraded uplands adjacent to our farm in Bugallon, Pangasinan. Every year, no exception, there are tree planting there, for many years and decades since the 80s or even the 70s. And every year, the scene is the same -- degraded upland with more cogon and other tall grasses than trees. Most of the trees that survive are naturally-growing species and not planted.

Below are the "left-over" seedlings that may no longer be planted in the uplands. The DENR and its contracted cooperative or planters deposited these seedlings in our farm, to be transported and planted in the uplands. I took these photos last Friday, October 18, 2014. It is no longer advisable to do tree planting at this time of the year because the rainy season will end soon. The contracted workers who should carry these potted seedlings up to the hills and mountain simply pulled the black plastic along with the soil in it. They only carried the uprooted seedlings, so they will be lighter to carry. This practice immediately injures the roots of the seedlings and would endanger their survival in the harsh environment in the uplands.

The uprooted seedlings were either planted, or they may have been thrown away, no one knows except the contracted and paid workers. These were mostly acacia auri and kakawate or madre de cacao.

There are several hundreds, possibly a few thousands, of unplanted seedlings there. They will never be planted and even if these will be planted in the uplands, their chance of survival will be very low. The best months to plant would be in June-July as there are plenty of rains, allowing the seedlings to establish stronger roots and body. Assuming of course that the crawling and choking vines and tall grasses around them are cleared regularly.

I do not know how much money was spent by the DENR, or by some foreign aid agencies that give grants or lend money to the PH government to be implemented by the DENR and LGUs, for this project alone.

Really inefficient and wasteful way to spend taxpayers' money.
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See also:
From Forestland to Grassland, September 21, 2012 
Natural Regeneration of Trees, February 21, 2013
New Upland Dwellers and the DENR, August 21, 2013
Selective Logging in the Farm. February 03, 2014
DENR Nursery in the Farm, April 17, 2014
Tree Planting vs. Tree Growing, June 08, 2014

Tree Planting vs. Tree Growing

I started planting trees in a private farm owned by the family of a deceased friend in UP, Mil Millora, in 1992. It was limited planting, something like 300 seedlings I think, various species of mahogany, acacia auri, acacia mangium, eucalyptus deglupta, and agoho/Benguet pine. I liked the experience of tree planting in a private farm, not in a public land that is owned by everyone and no one in particular, through the government. The farm is in Brgy. Laguit Padilla, Bugallon, Pangasinan. The town is 198 kms. from Manila and the farm is about 7 kms from the town center. At that time it was all dirt road.

The caretaker of the farm, Nong Endring Paragas and his two sons, helped me in the various tree planting every year. By 1993-1995, we were planting thousands of seedlings, we bought from nearby private nurseries, or we uproot naturally-growing seedlings of mahogany that were too close to each other and plant them elsewhere.

By 2002, we started limited harvesting of trees, those that grew fast from the seedlings we planted a decade before that, or trees that naturally grew on their own. I built my first treehouse that year. Two years after, early 2004, we demolished that small treehouse and built a bigger, two-storey, all wood treehouse.More trees were harvested from the farm.

We started selling a few trees for lumber early this decade as we have lots of big trees then. The small revenues were used to pay the monthly salary of the farm caretaker. Commercial harvesting was made in January this year.

Even after the selective logging, many trees, from small to medium size to big but crooked trunks were still standing. From February up to this month, we were selling lumber to local buyers, mostly barangay residents who were repairing their old house, or building a new one. Since we got official permit to cut from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) provincial office, there was no intrigue or harassment in the cutting of trees. The revenues were enough to pay the monthly salary of the caretaker and his son, Danny, who works part time in the farm to help his ageing father.

It is a perpetual forest with perpetual revenues, though not substantial.

Stealing and illegal cutting of trees in the public forest land is common there, and even in private farms if these are not guarded. Well, in many parts and provinces of the country actually. The thieves would cut trees for firewood, charcoal, or lumber for their house, or they sell the trees to other people. The daily presence of our caretaker in the farm turns away those thieves.

I tell some friends who are involved in various tree planting activities that they better do it in private lands and farms, not in government lands. Public forest land suffers from the "tragedy of the commons", where the land and the trees in it are owned by everyone and no one in particular, well owned by the government in the name of the public.  Survival rate of seedlings to become big trees someday is almost zero. One or more weeks after the tree planting, nature takes its course -- vines choking the new seedlings, cogon and grasses that grow much faster than the seedlings; wild animals or cattle that step on newly planted seedlings; flash flood in rainy season that erode the topsoil; grass fire and forest fire during the dry season. If the seedlings survive all of these and they manage to grow tall to arms- or limbs-size, people who cut and steal trees as discussed above come in.

Thus, in most tree planting activities in public lands, it is 99 percent tree planting, 1 percent monitoring, if ever. Good for picture taking then posting in facebook. Tree planting, not tree growing.

In private lands where the owners or managers have private stake, it is the reverse; 1 percent tree planting and 99 percent monitoring; when some of those seedlings die for whatever reason/s, they are replaced. Until the seedlings become small trees, become big trees. Whether to harvest them later or retain them to grow even bigger and taller is another story.

The various reforestation programs of the government in public forest land is generally wasteful. I remember when I was working at the House of Representatives from 1991-1999, I was attending various Committee hearings and accounting for the millions of hectares supposedly reforested from hundreds of millions of dollars of loans from the ADB, WB, OECF/Japan and other foreign aid. Loans contracted in the late 80s, and the result were largely lousy. Lots of spending and government borrowings, yes. Lots of new forest, no.

And it did not stop there. New environmental and forestry loans were contracted in the 90s, in the 2000s until this decade, by the Philippine government from the same foreign aid bodies, and very little new forests are visible.

In the public forest land adjacent to our farm in Bugallon, there are tree planting activities there, yearly. And yearly, public funds are used, and no new forest can be seen from the public land. Either the reforestation money is wasted or stolen, or no efficient monitoring is done. Government reforestation is largely wasteful and inefficient, if not a milking cow for various implementers, from the government to the contracted parties, usually NGOs and farmers' cooperatives.

Ok, I may be harsh in my assessment above, but that is what I have observed for more than two decades now.

On another note, there is an International Free Market Environmentalism conference to be held in Georgia this coming July 23-26, 2014. Venue is Hotel Vera Palace, Bakuriani, Mountain Resort, Georgia. Bakuriani is about 2 1/2 hours by car from the capital, Tbilisi.

The conference organizer is the New Economic School (NES). The President of NES–Georgia, Paata Sheshelidze, is a friend way back in 2004, when we attended the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia conference in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF). 

The conference co-sponsores are  FNF Southern Caucasus, Germany, and the Center for Energy and Environment of Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), USA. Interested participants can write to: office@nesgeorgia.org. 
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See also:
Selective Logging in the Farm. February 03, 2014
DENR Nursery in the Farm, April 17, 2014
Treehouse, Versions 2002 vs. 2014, April 23, 2014
Presentation at WASWAC Seminar at BSWM, DA, May 13, 2014

DENR Nursery in the Farm

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Laguit Padilla Multi Purpose Cooperative (MPC) has established a nursery partly in the farm, partly in the public forest land area. They informed our caretaker, Nong Endring Paragas about this, no problem. Photos below I took yesterday.

They used different tree species -- kakawate, ipil ipil, gmelina, etc.

The DENR has been planting and planting trees in this part of Bugallon, almost every year, for about four decades now since the 70s. Mostly in the public forest land, below, and partly intruding into private lands.

The DENR and its contracted parties in the past have no sincerity in having a real forest in many parts of the country. Generally the trees just regenerate and grow on their own without human intervention. They only need to be protected from different tree killers -- vines, grass fires (occurring almost yearly) and people who steal and cut the trees for charcoal, firewood, lumber and other uses. Below, another part of the "public forest land".

But the DENRand its contracted parties chose reforestation almost yearly. The latter mainly do it for money. They get paid for planting and do little or no monitoring months after. The newly planted seedlings often die. Until another round of contracted tree planting the next year.
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See also:
From Forestland to Grassland, September 21, 2012 
Attempted Illegal Logging by Greedy RE Agents, February 11, 2013 
New Upland Dwellers and the DENR, August 21, 2013

Trees in the Farm, part 2, September 06, 2012
Trees in the Farm, Part 3, February 11, 2013
Natural Regeneration of Trees, February 21, 2013

Trees in the Farm, Part 4, August 21, 2013

Selective Logging in the Farm

The farm experienced big number of mature trees cut and harvested last January 31-February 02, 2014. The buyer cut only trees where they can get at least 5x5 (length x width) inches of square logs. The big trees near my treehouse.

Another view of the trees felled and harvested.

A big mahogany tree that could be at least 50 years old was also harvested. The big slabs here can be used for furniture.

Notice the big branches and trunk of that tree. Nong Endring's hand and fingers were no match in size.

Small and thin trees below will soon get more sunlight, more minerals from the soil as the big ones tend to deprive them of more sunlight, more soil minerals.

Selective logging -- removing only the mature, overly mature, sickly trees -- leave the smaller trees to grow bigger later.

New Upland Dwellers and the DENR

When I visited the farm last Friday, August 16, 2013, our caretaker, Nong Endring Paragas, informed me that he saw some cogon huts already standing near or within the boundary of our farm, so we visited the area. About five or six small houses were already standing there. These are some of the local barrio folks who were given funding to reforest one or two hectares on supposedly public land which actually have private land titles.

Nong Endring said about one or two of these houses are within our farm's boundary, the others are outside. There is no electricity here, but there is a dirt road going here as it is along the road to the Bugallon dumpsite and materials recovery facility (MRF).

The DENR, with funding from bilateral or multilateral sources, has been planting and planting trees here since about three decades ago, like in many provinces nationwide. Generally those "reforestation" programs have produced more public debt than real forest, as the ones who planted the seedlings, along with the middlemen and contractors, have no long-term stake to see real forest. So it's the typical practice of 90-100 percent tree planting and 0-10 percent monitoring if those planted were indeed growing and protected from various hazards: grass fire, vines, erosion during heavy rains, lack of irrigation during dry months of March-May, plant diseases and so on.

See the seedlings they planted here, gmelina, very small and frail seedlings, on sometimes bare and rocky soil with no cover crop, no organic and soft soil under the newly planted seedlings. Notice also naturally-growing and regenerating local tree species. They were not planted but they grow robustly on this kind of soil condition.

The place is relatively cleared of tall cogon and other grasses because this is where the new upland dwellers (or squatters?) live. Outside this area, the newly planted seedlings are unprotected from those tall grasses and harsh vines.

Farther out, see tall and naturally-growing local trees.

Land titles in this land can be claimed by various private landowners, which the DENR regional office in Dagupan does not recognize. It's a legal fight between the private land owners and the DENR in the coming years.
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See also: 
Provincial environment office allowing mining, March 10, 2009 
Silica mining in Brgy Laguit Padilla, Bugallon, Pangasinan, May 25, 2009 
From Forestland to Grassland, September 21, 2012 
Attempted Illegal Logging by Greedy RE Agents, February 11, 2013