SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ASSESSMENT FOR THE PHILIPPINES Prepared for USAID/Philippines by U.S. Forest Service February 2011 Contents LIST OF ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Assessment ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter summaries .................................................................................................................................. 2 Recommendations and Options for USAID/Philippines ........................................................................... 4 National REDD+ Readiness Support ..................................................................................................... 5 REDD+ Demonstration ......................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 7 USAID Sustainable Landscapes Program .................................................................................................. 7 Role of USAID/Philippines ........................................................................................................................ 8 Purpose and Scope of Assessment ........................................................................................................... 8 Assessment Methods ............................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2: FORESTS IN THE PHILIPPINES .................................................................................................... 9 Forest Cover in the Philippines ................................................................................................................. 9 Background and History of Reforestation efforts in the Philippines ...................................................... 10 Lessons learned about Historical Reforestation Efforts ......................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 3: CURRENT REDD+ RELATED ACTIVITIES AND STAKEHOLDERS ................................................. 13 The Philippine National REDD-plus Strategy (PNRPS) ............................................................................ 13 Current REDD+ Activities ........................................................................................................................ 14 Related USG Initiatives ........................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 4: FOREST INVENTORY AND MONITORING ................................................................................. 17 Background on UNFCCC and REDD+ ....................................................................................................... 17 Past and current initiatives ..................................................................................................................... 18 National level: emerging REDD+ readiness ........................................................................................ 18 Sub-national level: voluntary carbon market readiness .................................................................... 20 Current capabilities and gaps to address REDD+ readiness ................................................................... 21 ii National level: government agencies and universities ...................................................................... 21 Sub-national level: Civil society and the private sector ..................................................................... 22 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER 5: POLICY AND GOVERNANCE ..................................................................................................... 24 Existing Capacities in Policy and Governance ......................................................................................... 24 Key Government Bodies involved in REDD+ ........................................................................................... 25 Constraints and Opportunities in Policy and Governance ..................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 6: COMMUNITY FORESTRY .......................................................................................................... 30 Land Tenure Arrangements with Communities ..................................................................................... 30 Community-based Forest Management Agreement ......................................................................... 30 Ancestral Domain Claims ................................................................................................................... 30 Mangrove Stewardship ...................................................................................................................... 31 Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement ........................................... 31 Co-management Agreements with LGUs ........................................................................................... 31 Limitations of Community-Based Management ..................................................................................... 31 Linking REDD+ to Community Forestry .................................................................................................. 32 REDD+ opportunities in community-managed land .......................................................................... 32 Policy issues ........................................................................................................................................ 33 Capacity Building for Implementing REDD+ at a Community Level ................................................... 34 CHAPTER 7: REDD+ AND REFORESTATION/AFFORESTATION ..................................................................... 35 Reforestation/afforestation through REDD+ in the Philippines ............................................................. 35 Benefits – how the Philippines are poised to benefit from REDD+ associated with reforestation........ 36 Limitations associated with reforestation/production forestry activities ............................................. 36 CHAPTER 8: REDD FINANCING .................................................................................................................... 37 Public Funds ............................................................................................................................................ 37 People’s Survival Fund ....................................................................................................................... 37 National Greening Program ............................................................................................................... 37 Other funds ............................................................................................................................................. 38 Philippines Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation ....................................................................... 38 World Bank ......................................................................................................................................... 38 Japanese International Cooperation Agency ..................................................................................... 38 Private Sector Investment ...................................................................................................................... 38 Focus on co-benefits ............................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 9: RECOMMENDATIONS AND OPTIONS FOR USAID/PHILIPPINES .............................................. 40 Recommended Approaches ................................................................................................................... 40 iii Overarching Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 40 Options for USAID/Philippines ............................................................................................................... 41 National REDD+ Readiness Support ................................................................................................... 41 REDD+ Demonstration ....................................................................................................................... 44 DENR-FMB, CENRO, LGUs .................................................................................................................. 48 ICRAF, UPLB/CFNR .............................................................................................................................