Upland Philippine communities : guardians of the final forest frontiers

These watersheds support some of the country"s last primary rainforests, while also serving major agricultural and population centers in the lowland plains. Poorly regulated logging by multinational corporations and Filipino elites from the 1950s to 1980s has rapidly denuded upland environments, and a debilitating economic crisis in the lowlands has forced a steady stream of poor migrants into the uplands to seek their subsistence from a dwindling natural resource base. Indigenous tribal communities, overwhelmed by this onslaught, have typically fled deeper into the upper reaches of the forests in a struggle to hold on to their traditional land-use practices and ways of life. The Dupinga and the Upper Pulangi watersheds truly represent the final forest frontiers in the Philippines, and their ecological survival is critically important for tribal communities, upland migrants, and downstream rural and urban dwellers alike. Concerned and disadvantaged upland communities have already taken action in an attempt to halt logging and control downstream flooding problems. They have barricaded logging roads and confronted armed gangs hired by timber companies in an attempt to stop the destruction of their forest environment. The challenge is to resolve conflicts among the different resource user groups and to reach a consensus regarding management objectives, operating rules and regulations, and the institutional structure through which access controls and use rights will be implemented. Strong community leadership, combined with facilitation from neutral third parties based in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), is already helping to join together tribal communities and migrant settlers to negotiate common goals and develop sustainable management strategies. However, the government will need to demonstrate strong political will in supporting community initiatives to stabilize valuable watersheds. This will require the unequivocal termination of remaining mining and logging leases, even if held by the rich and powerful. While the Philippines has drafted some of the most progressive community-oriented resource management policies in Asia, they will have little impact on the larger issues of upland resource degradation unless the government can move quickly and decisively to channel its policies to empower poor tribal and upland migrant groups. This case study documents the severity of the problems, while also giving notice that local communities are already experimenting with strategies to respond to them. These communities undoubtedly hold the key to the solution of access controls and participatory management. Yet they desperately need strong, supportive leadership and action from a government committed to enabling their role as guardians of the forest. (Author abstract)