People’s Organizations (POs) in the Philippines have been working with the Government in programs and projects with upland communities since the adoption of a national community-based forest management strategy 25 years ago. The long-term success of Government reforestation programs depends on the incentives of POs to continue managing the resources beyond the lifetime of the program. Clear access and utilization rights — including fair and transparent benefit-sharing agreements — are pre-conditions to this process. This brief provides concrete policy recommendations to ensure that POs can benefit adequately from the timber and non-timber forest resources they have contributed to creating through planting forest- and fruit-tree species or in restoring and rehabilitating forest areas through the protection and maintenance of naturally regrowing seedlings.

Authors: Gassner, A.; Torres, A.G.; Wardell, D.A.; Duque-Piñon, C.

Subjects: ecosystem services, forest management, ecological restoration

Publication type: Brief, Publication

Year: 2021