The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The word “countries” appearing in the text refers to countries, territories and areas without distinction. The designations “developed” and “developing” countries are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process. The opinions expressed in the articles by contributing authors are not necessarily those of FAO. The EC-FAO Partnership Programme on Information and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management: Linking National and International Efforts in South Asia and Southeast Asia is designed to enhance country capacities to collect and analyze relevant data, to disseminate up-to- date information on forestry and to make this information more readily available for strategic decision-making. Thirteen countries in South and Southeast Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao P.D.R., Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam) participate in the Programme. Operating under the guidance of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) Working Group on Statistics and Information, the initiative is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in close partnership with experts from participating countries. It draws on experience gained from similar EC-FAO efforts in Africa, and the Caribbean and Latin America and is funded by the European Commission. Cover design: Tan Lay Cheng For copies write to: Patrick B. Durst Senior Forestry Officer FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific 39 Phra Atit Road Bangkok 10200 Thailand Printed and published in Bangkok, Thailand © FAO 2003 ISBN 974-7946-34-3 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL DEVELOPMENT Information and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management: Linking National and International Efforts in South and Southeast Asia EC-FAO PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME (2000–2002) Tropical Forestry Budget Line B7-6201/1B/98/0531 PROJECT GCP/RAS/173/EC EVALUATION OF FOREST AND NATURAL RESOURCES DATA AND INFORMATION FLOW IN THE PHILIPPINES by Nathaniel C. Bantayan1 and Richievel V. Arche2 1 Project Leader and Associate Professor of Forest Management. Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños 2 Research Assistant, Environmental Remote Sensing and Geo-Information Laboratory, Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños Information and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management: Linking National and International Efforts in South and Southeast Asia EC-FAO PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME (2000–2002) Tropical Forestry Budget Line B7-6201/1B/98/0531 PROJECT GCP/RAS/173/EC Introduction There has always been a keen interest in policy formulation and how forest and natural resources policies respond to the needs of the sector in terms of assessment and monitoring. Since 1987, more than 70 policies (departmental administrative orders, memorandum circulars, special orders) have been issued in the forestry sector alone. This does not include national legislation relating to the Clean Air Act, Indigenous People’s Rights Act, National Integrated Protected Areas Act, Mining Act and others. Legislation on sustainable forest management and a national land-use policy are under preparation. The Forestry Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree 705) will be amended. The master plan for the Philippine environment and natural resources is being reviewed and some sections are being revised. A policy is only as good as the information on which it is based. Good policies are able to respond to the needs of the sector and are able to adjust accordingly. That is why the aggregation of data from the field offices to the policy-making office is so vital in the formulation of responsive policies. There must be a conscious, deliberate and institutionalized link between data collection, the generation of information and policy formulation. This study evaluated such a link including the flow of forest and natural resources data and information; the report is organized according to the objectives listed below. The subsequent sections contain a discussion of the objectives and the extent to which these were addressed within the constraints and limitations of the study. The primary objective of the study was to prescribe the most cost-efficient and cost-effective methodology for data transfer and information flow. The specific objectives were to: Assess the type, quality and amount of data and information being collected at the Community Environment and Natural Resource Office (CENRO) level of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of data transfer and information flow at environment and natural resources offices (ENROs) from the community ENROs to the provincial ENROs to the regional ENROs and ultimately to the DENR central office; Analyze the gaps in data transfer and information flow; Evaluate the data gathered in terms of attribute data and spatial information as an indication of GIS-readiness; Develop a strategy and methodologies for filling data gaps and for improving the flow of information; and Provide an indicative analysis on the quality of policy formulation as determined by the type, quality and amount of data and information. The study evaluated the data and information flow within the operational mechanism of the DENR. It has two major outputs: methodology for data transfer and information flow for forest and natural resources; and analysis of attribute data and spatial information as indicators of readiness for GIS implementation. Rationale The Government of the Philippines has formulated a comprehensive collection of policies on forestry, environment and natural resources. It is quick to respond to policy needs and as a result, policies embracing and addressing specific issues and problems are drafted. However, this swift response to needs is not necessarily translated into solutions at the ground level and there is a considerable number of overlapping policies. In addition, policies are not implemented based on the performance of the country’s forest management sector as required. Over four centuries, the Philippine forestry situation has deteriorated to a situation where the country has become a net importer of timber. From an estimated 27.5 million ha of forest in 1575 (Revilla et al. 2000), the total forest cover (including plantations) has declined to about 6.5 million ha (FAO 2001). Per capita forest cover in the Philippines is estimated at 0.072 ha. This is 23 times lower than the average for the Asia-Pacific region (Revilla et al. 2000). The Philippine constitution mandates that forestlands and national parks, including their boundaries shall be marked clearly on the ground. Such forestlands (including national parks) shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by law. On this basis, land classification at the national level divides the country into two categories: forestlands and alienable and disposable lands (A&D lands). The classification is based primarily on slope, which assumes that agricultural productivity diminishes in steeper areas. Here, agricultural productivity is defined in terms of the susceptibility of the land to erosion and soil degradation. Areas with slopes of 18 percent or more are not deemed suitable for long-term agricultural production and are classified as forestlands. Areas with slopes less than 18 percent are classified as A&D lands. Of the 30 million ha that comprise the total land area of the country, it is estimated that 53 percent (or 15.88 million ha) belongs to forestlands while the remainder are A&D lands. The irony is that while the policy on land classification has been in place for the past 80 years, the boundaries that separate the forestlands from the A&D lands are not marked on the ground. As a result, human intrusion has proliferated over the years to the extent that citizens have privatized areas that should remain as forestlands. Agriculture and livestock raising occur on certain parts of forestlands. All too often, these are critical watersheds – areas so degraded that forest renewal is a priority and must be the only activity. Only recently has the government undertaken a massive effort to delineate and demarcate the boundaries on the ground. According to the 2000 census, the estimated population was 76.5 million. About 26 percent is living in and dependent on the uplands for their livelihoods. Their contribution to forest degradation along with rampant illegal logging and ineffective forest renewal has contributed to the destruction of much of the country’s forests. Primary or old growth forest is estimated at only 800 000 ha (see Table 1). Table 1. Breakdown of forest cover in the Philippines (after Revilla et al. 2000). Land cover in forestlands Area (million ha) Dipterocarp forest (old growth) 0.80 Dipterocarp forest (residual) 2.73 Pine forest 0.23 Submarginal forest 0.48 Mossy forest 1.04 Mangrove forest 0.11 Brushlands 2.23 Open/other uses 8.26 TOTAL 15.88 Methodology Data flow diagram approach This study made use of the data flow diagram (DFD) approach following the three most important components of data and information management for the environment and natural resources (ENR) – processes, files and flow (see Figure 1). Processes show what systems do. Each process has one or more data inputs and produces one or more outputs. Each process has a unique name and number (Hawryszkiewycz 1994). On the other hand, a file is a repository and contains data that are retained in the system. It refers to a data store and each file contains important data that are transported accordingly between processes and external entities.