Assessment of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Eastern Samar and Davao Oriental [Philippines] REDD-[Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation] Plus project sites

The Philippines forest cover has been drastically reduced from 10.9 million hectares of land in the 1970sto just 7.7 million ha in 2003 (PFS 2003). NAMRIA [National Mapping and Resources Information Administration] reports that from 2003 to 2010, closed canopy forest declined by 25% in terms of area. Despite government efforts to protect, conserve and rehabilitate forests, forest destruction continues due to such activities as shifting cultivation, timber extraction, mining, and conversion of forest to other land uses. In order to define specific strategies for REDD-plus and related measures, an analysis of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation is required. The basis of this action is the Warsaw REDD-plus framework agreed upon in the UNFCCC's COP-19 [] where parties, organizations, and private sector are encouraged to take action to reduce the driver's of deforestation and forest degradation and to share the results of their work. The assessment of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation was implemented in the REDD-plus project areas namely, Eastern Samar and Davao Oriental. The study is part of the project 'Preparation of a National REDD-plus Mechanism for Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Conservation of Biodiversity in the Philippines' (National REDD-plus System Philippines) with assistance from the German German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) under its International Climate Initiative (IKI). This study had the objectives: 1)analysis of drivers and courses of deforestation and forest degradation in the project sites; 2)assessment of the importance of various drivers and courses of deforestation and forest degradation; and 3)development of differentiated recommendations to address the various drivers and courses of deforestation and forest degradation. The assessment followed three of the five steps identified in the Decision Support Tool for Identifying and Addressing Drivers prepared by the ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on Forests (ARKN-FCC 2014). These steps includes: 1)gathering information and assessing drivers, 2)selecting drivers to address, and 3)designing interventions to address prioritized drivers. The other two steps, 4)implementation of selected interventions to address prioritized drivers and 5)monitoring and evaluating success of interventions, are to be undertaken by the respective REDD-plus project partners. The methods used include review of secondary data, information, and literature; key informant interviews (KIIs); focus group discussion (FGDs); analysis of available data sets from NAMRIA and FMB-DENR; descriptive statistics; financial analysis; and qualitative descriptions. The priority identified with the stakeholders in both project sites includes upland agriculture expansion, timber poaching, tree cutting for fuelwood, charcoal, rattan extraction, and mining. Underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation include socio-demographic factors, such as increasing population and in-migration, cultural factors like changing consumption patterns; economic factors that include poverty, limited livelihood opportunities, and market demand; technological factors such as low productivity, proliferation of chainsaws, and poor access to market; and policy and institutional factors among which are unstable policy environment and weak forest governance. To address the drivers of deforestations and forest degradation through REDD-plus, the Interventions include forest land use planning, co-management of forests and forestlands with tenture options, improved governance, and improved livelihood options. Addressing the poverty and lock of livelihood options that drive current degradation activities needs to be prioritized such as technical, financial, and marketing assistance on improved upland farming systems. A number of farm-based livelihood options were analyzed that would guide the project implementation and farmers. The options analyzed includes status quo or business as usual (BAU); REDD-plus, without enhancement; REDD-plus with communal tree plantations (Dipterocarps and fast growing trees), agroforestry-based farming (coconut, banana, or citrus based), fuelwood plantation, and rattan plantation. The BAU option involves the current kaingin farming or shifting cultivations with timber poaching/fuelwood tree cutting but this option yields negative net present value (NPV) of benefits. All other interventions with REDD-plus enhancement susch as agroforestry and/or timber plantations resulted to positive NPVs and attractive internal rates of return (IRR).