Philippine Pe袮blanca Sustainable Reforestation
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PHILIPPINE PEÑABLANCA SUSTAINABLE REFORESTATION PROJECT (PPSRP) Project Design Document for Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards Second Edition December, 2009 Prepared by Toyota Motor Corporation and Conservation International Project Overview Background The Philippines is one of world’s seventeen megadiversity countries.1 At the same time, it is one of the world’s most threatened biodiversity hotspots. This is made manifest by the less than 3% remaining primary forest cover. The remnants of the primary forests, surrounded by fragmented forests, form the watershed that provides clean and potable water to the major towns and cities. Majority of these watersheds are currently in states of degradation characterized by accelerated soil erosion, erratic stream flow, depleted ground water resources, biodiversity loss, changing microclimate and declining land productivity. The Sierra Madre Mountain range in the northern island of Luzon constitutes the largest block of remaining natural rainforest in the Philippines—about 1.4 million hectares, accounting for 25% of the country’s forests, including more than 400,000 hectares or 40% of the remaining oldgrowth forests. The biodiversity significance of this region is exemplified by its high wildlife diversity. About 3500 species of plants have been recorded in the area, of which 58% are found nowhere else in the world. There are at least 293 species of birds, 84 of which are endemic to the country, and 19 of which are threatened. Because of its high biodiversity, the Sierra Madre mountain range has been identified as one of the conservation priority areas in the Philippines. The region is also known as the top producer of rice and corn in the country. However, the limited livelihood opportunity has forced the marginalized community to resort to unsustainable use of forest lands and its resources. This has resulted in the fragmentation of the forest that threatens the endemic and threatened species of plants and animals and the integrity of the watersheds that may be further compounded by the unpredictable impacts of climate change. Even in protected areas, threats to the unique biodiversity and the natural forest of PPLS remain unabated. To reverse the negative trends, Conservation International (CI) has initiated conservation projects within the Peñablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape (PPLS), a protected area located at the heart of Sierra Madre Mountains, in partnership with local NGOs, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Local Government Unit of Peñablanca (LGU). The project’s goal is to uplift the community’s human well being and aims to reduce their dependence on the unsustainable use of their natural resources. Activities included conservation awareness campaign, assisting the local communities in the formulation of their respective Barangay Development Plans, facilitating the implementation of livelihood-related projects of partner NGOs, promoting sustainable upland farming through material and technical support in the establishment of agroforestry farms of selected individual farmers, strengthening the management capacity of the PPLS managing authority (the Protected Area Management Board and the Protected Area Superintendent Office) through cross visits to other protected areas and preparation of the PPLS Management Plan made consistent with the regional and local development plans. 1 R. A. Mittermeier, P. Robles Gil & C. G. Mittermeier. (Eds.), Megadiversity: Earth’s Biologically Wealthiest Nations. Monterrey, Mexico: CEMEX. 501p. - 2 - The Project The donation from the Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) provided an opportunity to expand this initiative started by local stakeholders in 2007. The TMC, DENR, LUG, and CI concluded a grant agreement with the witness of President Arroyo, and the Philippine Peñablanca Sustainable Reforestation Project was officially launched in September 2007. The goal of the project is to promote forest restoration, forest and biodiversity conservation, and alternative livelihood through reforestation, enhancement planting and agro-forestry. The project will cover 2,943 hectares of degraded lands (formerly grazed grassland and patches of degraded secondary forest) in five barangays2 within PPLS, of which 2500 hectares will receive active intervention of either reforestation, enhancement planting, or agroforestry. The project will be implemented in two phases (Phase 1 from 2007 to 2010; Phase 2 from 2010 to 2013). For the long-term sustainability of the benefits the project impacts after the initial funding ends, the project will create Reforestation Fund. The Project Activities The activities and targets under the Reforestation (912 ha in phase 1 / 418ha in phase 2), Enhancement Planting (300ha / 170ha) and the Agroforestry (560ha / 140ha) components cover the whole range of operations from nursery establishment and seedling production to planting and maintaining the seedlings, which include fire prevention. Restored forests will provide improved ecosystem services, while agroforestry will provide an income source alternative to incomes from unsustainable use of forest patches (e.g., logging for charcoal to sell). Fuelwood collection from forests has been identified as one of the major sources of deforestation in the area. Thus, the Avoided Deforestation component promotes an alternative cooking scheme that does not uses forest-based fuel, as well as planting fuelwood trees in designated areas, to reduce, if not totally stop, the cutting of trees from the natural forest. In addition, the project will assist in the creation and development of Reforestation Fund as a sustainable financing mechanism to expand the reforestation activities to cover other barangays after the project ends and to serve the micro-financing and emergency funding needs of the project participants. The Forest Protection and Awareness Campaign component focused on the multi-sectoral patrolling activities and information and education activities about the project and its conservation values. The Philippine Peñablanca Sustainable Reforestation Project aims to bring multiple benefits to the community and to the environment. To ensure that the project can achieve its ambitious goal, the project has been designed along the Community, Climate and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, a most trusted set of criteria and indicators for multiple-benefit land-based projects. 2 A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village or district. - 3 - Table of Contents G1. Original Conditions in the Project Area.................................................................................. 7 G2. Baseline Projections.............................................................................................................. 27 G3. Project Design and Goals...................................................................................................... 35 G4. Management Capacity and Best Practices ............................................................................ 57 G5. Legal Status and Property Rights.......................................................................................... 67 CL1. Net Positive Climate Impacts .............................................................................................. 76 CL2. Offsite Climate Impacts (‘Leakage’) ................................................................................... 83 CL3. Climate Impact Monitoring ................................................................................................. 86 CM1. Net Positive Community Impacts....................................................................................... 91 CM2. Offsite Stakeholder Impacts ............................................................................................... 95 CM3. Community Impact Monitoring.......................................................................................... 98 B1. Net Positive Biodiversity Impacts........................................................................................ 101 B2. Offsite Biodiversity Impacts ................................................................................................ 109 B3. Biodiversity Impact Monitoring........................................................................................... 111 GL1. Climate Change Adaptation Benefits ................................................................................ 116 GL2. Exceptional Community Benefits...................................................................................... 117 GL3. Exceptional Biodiversity Benefits..................................................................................... 118 - 4 - List of Tables Table 1. Area distribution per land-cover type within the project area. ....................................... 13 Table 2. Areas for A/R carbon accounting. .................................................................................. 16 Table 3. Average carbon density per stratum under baseline scenario......................................... 16 Table 4. Current carbon stocks of A/R and Forest Conservation Areas....................................... 18 Table 5. Land cover change between 1989-2007*. ...................................................................... 28 Table 6. Future carbon stock change projection (in tC) for secondary growth forest under “without project” scenario, referenced to Year 1.........................................................................