2The Context of Landcare in Lantapan

THE CONTEXT OF LANDCARE IN 2 LANTAPAN The context of landcare in Lantapan he Municipality of Lantapan covers an area of noticeably with elevation. Humidity is lowest in March and around 33,000 ha and forms part of the upper April and highest in June and August (the wettest months). Tcatchment of the Manupali River (Coxhead and Table 2.1 Agricultural land use in Lantapan by slope, 1973 Buenavista 2001). It is bordered by the Mt Kitanglad Range and 1994 on the north, with peaks as high as 2,900 m, and by the Slope class (%) Per cent of Agricultural land use (%) Manupali River on the south. Hence the municipality landscape embraces several sub-catchments draining from the Mt 1973 1994 Kitanglad Range south or south-east into the Manupali River. 0-10 57 41 66 In the lower part of the municipality there is a dam that 10-20 24 18 42 diverts water into the Manupali River Irrigation System, 20-40 14 4 14 constructed in 1987 with a service area of 4,000 ha. The 40-90 5 2 8 Manupali eventually flows into the Pulangi River, a few Source: Coxhead and Buenavista (2001) 2 kilometres above the Pulangi IV hydroelectric plant. 13 In terms of administrative boundaries, Lantapan borders the municipalities of Sumilao and Impasugong to the north, Malaybalay to the east, Valencia to the south, and Talakag to the west, and includes within its boundaries about 7,000 ha or 23 per cent of the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park. Just over a third of Lantapan’s land area is classified as public forest land, under the nominal custodianship of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Thus farmers in Lantapan are occupying a highly sensitive environment and their land management practices have implications for natural resource management well beyond their farm boundaries. The bio-physical and socio-economic environment of Lantapan has been described in great detail due to the activities of the USAID-funded Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM-CRSP) that began in 1993 (Coxhead and Buenavista, eds., 2001). This chapter draws heavily on reports from that project. THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT The Lantapan landscape rises from river flats at 400-600 m, through a rolling middle section at 600-1,100 m, to steeply Bukidnon Province showing the Municipality of Lantapan sloped mountains at 1,100-2,200 m, with an average elevation of 600 m. Table 2.1 shows that while much of the landscape is gently sloping to rolling (slope <10%), almost half the area has slopes greater than 10% and almost one fifth has slopes greater than 20%. Soils are generally well-drained, with clayey topsoil and subsoil, slightly to moderately acid, low in organic matter, low in cation exchange capacity, and with a high capacity to fix phosphorus. Lantapan receives an annual rainfall of 2,470 mm. The wet season starts in May and runs through to October, with a dip in rainfall in July (Fig. 2.2). The wettest month is August (370 mm) and the driest is November (93 mm). The coolest months are January and February (15-19OC) and the hottest The Municipality of Lantapan showing major features and the months April and May (25-32OC). Temperature decreases location of barangays Landcare in Bukidnon Bukidnon groups (Binukid) is one of 15 Manobo languages that form a subgroup of the Austronesian family of languages. The Talaandig number perhaps 100,000 in total and reside in Lantapan and other municipalities around the foothills of the Mt Kitanglad Range, which they regard as their ancestral domain (Saway 2002). Talaandig communities are guided by a set of customs (batasan) that are sanctioned by traditional religious beliefs and practices. They have a rich oral tradition expressed in narratives, epics, poems and songs. Belief in gods and spirits who guard and protect the Figure 2.1 Monthly average rainfall in Lantapan, 1994-8 natural and human environment is manifested in the rituals (Coxhead and Buenavista 2001, p.15) 14 performed when establishing a farm, after harvest, when hunting, and at other significant times in the life of the household and community. Illness is treated through herbal medicines and rituals performed by traditional healers (mananambal). Talaandig traditional leaders (datu), though not hereditary, are confirmed in their role through community rituals and command a high degree of respect and influence. The datu is a “mediator and a leader” whose “major role is to intervene in conflicting relationships in order to secure peace and harmony in the community” (Saway 2002). A typical Lantapan landscape with Mt Kitanglad Range Traditionally, a small number of “high datu” (dadatu-on) Natural Park in the background exercised territorial jurisdiction over communities in several river valleys (Edgerton 1982). Under them, head datu presided over areas or settlements (tulugan) that were usually confined to one river valley, occupied by 40-50 closely related nuclear families. “These chiefs controlled the land and its use in their immediate environs, determining which families would work which swidden plots” (Edegerton 1982: 365). There were also lesser datu or elders whose status derived from their knowledge of customary law and their success in settling disputes. The traditional Talaandig economy was based on shifting cultivation (Saway 2002). Households cultivated rice, maize, An irrigation canal in the Manupali River Irrigation System, downstream from Lantapan Municipality taro, sweet potato, squash, beans, and banana, mainly for subsistence. Coffee and abaca were early cash crops. Pigs and chickens were raised for religious purposes while large POPULATION animals such as horses and carabao were used for payment of debts and other obligations. Household members also The Talaandig engaged in hunting and food gathering in the surrounding forest. Traditional technology included blacksmithing, The population of Lantapan comprises roughly 15 per cent weaving, and embroidery. indigenous Talaandig, 32 per cent Bukidnon and other Gatmaytan (2002) undertook a study of resource ownership indigenous groups, and 51 per cent migrant groups in the Talaandig community of Sitio Lantud, Barangay (dumagat) such as Cebuano from the Visayas and Igorot Sagaran, in the neighbouring municipality of Talakag. He from Northern Luzon (Paunlagui and Suminguit 2001). The found that land-holdings (angkon-angkon) were owned by Talaandig, Bukidnon and Higaonon are very closely related individuals and households rather than communally. Land ethnically and linguistically (Gatmaytan 2002) and are often was inherited from parents or ancestors who were the first collectively referred to as Bukidnon, a term of Cebuano to clear and occupy the area. Inheritance was bilateral and origin meaning “mountain dweller”. The language of the The context of landcare in Lantapan were from the Visayas (mainly Cebu and Bohol) and Luzon (mainly Mountain Province and Benguet). Migration was spontaneous rather than government sponsored, with early migrants returning to their home provinces to recruit others in a process termed “chain migration”. Continuing growth from the 1980s was due to a rapid rise in the rate of natural increase due to improved health and nutrition (i.e., a decline in the death rate). There is now evidence that population growth is beginning to decline, due to a declining birth rate and increasing out-migration (Paunlagui and Suminguit 2001). Figure 2.3 Population of Lantapan, 1948-2000 (Paunlagui In 1995 the 0-14 age group was 42 per cent of the total and Suminguit 2001) 2 population, reflecting the rapid growth in the preceding 15 decades. Almost half the population was in the reproductive restricted to direct descendants. The landholder had full age group (15-45), implying that the population would control, including the right to sell, give, or otherwise dispose continue to grow for many decades. There were more males of the land. than females, probably due to greater male in-migration Typically, households owned many lots of varying size, and, more recently, greater female out-migration to urban reflecting the traditional pattern of shifting cultivation, centres for employment (Paunlagui and Suminguit 2001). though the trend was towards sedentary farming. For The estimated population in 2000 was 43,406, giving a example, one informant had five separate lots totalling 8 population density of 136 persons per sq. km (Paunlagui ha. None of the residents had a document of title, though a and Suminguit 2001). This was projected to rise to 114,198 number had real estate tax declarations. Nevertheless, by 2030, or 359 persons per sq. km. There were only 0.39 Gatamaytan found that “local residents are familiar with the hectares of arable land per person in 2000. In 1980 the respective landholdings of their neighbours” (2002: 21). modal farm size was 1-3 ha, accounting for 46 per cent of Apart from a community wood lot (panagana), there was farms. Seventy five per cent of farms were less than 5 ha. also individual ownership of trees; i.e., the owner had to In the 2002 survey of Barangay Sungco reported in Chapter give permission to fell trees, especially for commercial use 4, the modal farm size was still 1-3 ha, but this size class (Gatmaytan 2002). Nevertheless, there had been no conflict accounted for only 33 per cent of farms, and 69 per cent of with logging concessionaires who operated in the area in farms were less than 5 ha, a reduction from 1980. This the past. Rattan cutting, hunting and trapping were largely suggests a degree of land accumulation by farmers in the unregulated, except for the setting of spear traps (la-is), larger size classes, hence greater inequality in the which were a potential hazard to humans. Fish and aquatic distribution of land. resources were also subject to open access for members An important factor in the maintenance of average farm of the community.

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