INSULAR ASIA - SUB-REGIONAL STATUS AND PROJECTION

INDONESIA
MALAYSIA
PHILIPPINES

Countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines

The forest resources

The total area of forest and wooded lands (which include by definition forest fallows and shrubs) in Insular Asia will continue to decrease at a rate of about 1 % per year and particularly in Philippines and Malaysia. Conversion of forests for agriculture is still under way actively in the sub-region except in Philippines where the remaining natural forests are presently located mainly on lands unsuitable for agriculture. Fire, pests and shifting cultivation are adding more degradation to the forest cover. Only Indonesia still has vast areas of exploitable natural forests although a large part of it has been put under strict protection. However, the wealth of Indonesia cannot hide the dramatic situation of the forest in other parts of the sub-region such as in some Philippines islands. Forest are generally harvested under selective systems by private concessionaires. All countries have long experience in forest management but they all have examples involving heavy forest degradation. Presently in all countries and despite obvious difficulties, there is a clear policy objective to strictly apply new sustainable management principles and regulations.

Tree plantations programmes are promoted in all countries and Indonesia will progressively achieve a significant plantation resource. Philippines and Malaysia programmes could be constrained by tenure problems and lack of appropriate incentives. Commercial crops areas - coconut and rubber for Indonesia and Malaysia, coconut for Philippines - are important and wood production will remain significant if active replanting of over-mature stock is done.

Forestry sector development

For the whole sub-region, it is expected that the prevailing forest degradation would improve progressively benefiting from the country efforts to slow-down deforestation processes. Economic prosperity may contribute to reduced direct pressure on the forests. Natural forest production should improve as sustainable forest management rules are applied. Large planned plantation programmes could be limited due to various problems related to land tenure and financing. Forest conservation concerns will remain important in forest sector development.

Wood production and fellings

Indonesia supplies about 75 % of the roundwood in the sub-region and has a ratio SI/fellings equal to 1 suggesting overall equilibrium between wood production and felling. Malaysia and Philippines show a chronic deficit in the SI/felling balance. Malaysia which was in the worse position in this respect in 1995 tends to improve slightly its balance during the period to 2010 (0.6 to 0.8). However, the Philippines situation is expected to worsen (0.7 to 0.6). This situation indicates a constant and global degradation of the forest formations in these two countries. Fellings in terms of fuelwood and industrial roundwood exceed what the forested lands and agricultural lands can provide sustainably in the present conditions. The total wood stock increment would increase slowly (11%) by 2010 due to plantation forests production and the significant contribution expected from agricultural lands (about half of the total stock increment).

Wood production from commercial crops will play an important role in local timber supply. Wood stock increment of natural exploitable forests would decrease in accordance with the continued loss and degradation of forested lands. Production from tree plantations will largely compensate the deficit from the natural exploitable forest. Industrial roundwood fellings from natural exploitable forest would decrease by about 13% mainly due to severe logging restriction in Malaysia. Fuelwood and domestic use should increase from 1995 by 26% in accordance with the population increase. It is interesting to note that Philippines figures related to wood production and supply are greater than the Malaysia ones although Malaysia has a larger forested area than Philippines.

Table II.25 - Insular Asia: Status and projection Summary

		Unit (1000)	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010
Production forests
Production forests area - total		ha	97,270	93,724	90,687	88,142	85,574
	- Natural exploitable forests	ha	92,220	87,624	83,287	79,192	75,324
	- Plantation forests	ha	5,050	6,100	7,400	8,950	10,250
Commercial growing stock - total		m3	4,799,629	4,833,970	4,724,919	4,614,988	4,529,950
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3	4,591,469	4,355,464	4,133,331	3,924,121	3,726,963
	- Plantation forests	m3	208,160	246,592	293,424	350,156	415,288
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	148,743	149,133	151,442	155,640	158,697
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3/year	117,211	110,701	104,610	98,908	93,565
	- Plantation forests	m3/year	31,532	38,432	46,832	56,732	65,132
Fellings ind. round. - total		m3/year	102,360	89,500	83,300	78,100	75,500
	- Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	78,928	69,000	64,200	60,200	58,200
	- Waste and residues	m3/year	23,432	20,500	19,100	17,900	17,300
Other forests and wooded lands
Conservation areas		ha	25,343	25,343	25,953	26,453	26,953
Low productive/open forests		ha	83,726	79,130	74,830	70,803	67,030
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	26,186	24,700	23,314	22,020	20,810
Non forest lands
Commercial tree crops		ha	9,170	9,250	9,500	9,500	9,500
Arable lands		ha	26,540	30,265	33,451	36,533	39,527
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	77,495	86,499	94,179	101,434	108,623
Fellings fuel/other wood - total		m3/year	177,412	192,054	207,911	225,084	243,682
Wood stock incr., all sources		m3/year	252,424	260,332	268,936	279,094	288,130
Fellings, all sources		m3/year	279,772	281,554	291,211	303,184	319,182
Forest and wooded lands		ha	180,996	172,854	165,517	158,946	152,604
Percentage forested lands		%	74	71	68	65	63

Table II.26 - Insular Asia: Changes between 1995 and 2010 related to some indicators

Unit	in 000 ha
	Forests and w. lands			Nat. exploit. forests			Plantation forests
Country	1995	2010	%	1995	2010	%	1995	2010	%
Indonesia	139,950	126,922	-9	74,166	65,208	-12	5,184	8,434	63
Malaysia	20,327	15,556	-23	11,255	8,510	-24	155	305	97
Philippines	12,577	10,125	-19	2,202	1,605	-27	761	1,511	99
Total	172,854	152,604	-12	87,624	75,324	-14	6,100	10,250	68

Unit	in 000 m3						Unit
	Total fellings			Stock increment			Ratio SI/felling		Weight*
Country	1995	2010	%	1995	2010	%	1995	2010	%
Indonesia	194,183	234,173	21	201,804	228,356	13	1.04	0.98	73
Malaysia	47,163	35,035	-26	31,421	28,888	-8	0.67	0.82	11
Philippines	40,209	49,974	24	27,106	30,887	14	0.67	0.62	16
Total	281,554	319,182	13	260,332	288,130	11	0.92	0.90	100

* Countries relative weight related to fellings by year 2010

Unit	000 ha
	Total country land area
Country	1990
Indonesia	181,157
Malaysia	32,855
Philippines	29,817
Total	243,829

INDONESIA

The forest resources

Indonesia is formed of a group of islands of which the main ones are Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, Maluku, Irian Jaya, Bali. The main land cover of Indonesia is forest (68%). The tropical forests in Indonesia are very diverse and they represent about 10% of all tropical forests of the world. The Wallace line divides Indonesia into two distinct vegetation and animal zones: the West contains the Dipterocarp forests and the East is more Australian type supporting lower volumes of commercial species. The dipterocarp forest ecosystem is economically important and represented in most of the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, the Moluccas. Dipterocarps are found in swamps and up to mountainous areas. Mangrove and other tidal-type forests, peat swamp forests have ecological importance. Approximately 44% of all productive forests are still unlogged and contain about 60% of all commercial volume of exploitable size. Forests are mainly owned and administered by the State. Production forests are granted to private or state companies under logging concessions issued for specified periods. Logging concessions are managed on a selective system, the so-called TPTI (Indonesian Selective Cutting and Planting System) with a theoretical cutting cycle of 35-years and including a provision for tree planting. Logging damages are reported to be very high and concession management was poor up to now. The export of logs and raw rattan are banned as part of a national policy to develop local industries.

The population is unevenly distributed with over 100 million people (out of nearly 200 million) living in Java which accounts for only 7 % of the total land area. Indonesia is still an agricultural country and shifting cultivation is common. It is expected that by 2010 about 25-30 million additional hectares of forest will be converted into other uses such as agriculture development, resettlement of nomadic societies and mining activities. Indonesian households in rural areas rely heavily (80%) on fuelwood and local timber supply from home gardens and from agricultural estate crops. Indonesia has a very large rubber and coconut estate. Non wood forest products like rattan are socially and economically important.

Level of soil erosion is high and agro-forestry has been practised for a long time under regreening programmes. Forestry extension is strongly supported. Teak plantations are found in Java and Pinus merkusii and Eucalyptus are planted throughout Indonesia. State and private companies are involved in establishing large industrial plantations with fast growing species (Acacia mangium) for pulp production. However low product value, landuse overlaps, low technical knowledge and low return on investment are constraining plantations development.

About biodiversity, Indonesia is incredibly rich in species. Conservation areas account for 19 million ha; moreover, an additional 30 million ha of protection forests have been closed to all commercial uses including access by the public.

Forestry sector development

An Indonesian Forestry Action Programme was finalised in 1991. This plan is revised and up dated regularly to be in line with the National Development Plan for Forestry in the National five-year development plan. New forest related Acts and Decrees have been adopted and provide an appropriate framework for effective intersectoral cooperation for better utilisation of the forest resources. The Government is committed to sustainable forest management and to limit wood wastage and put in place in recent years marketing incentives, measures to rationalise the forest industries and to deregulate wood trade in accordance with its industrialisation programme. The state is promoting through incentives tree plantations for land conservation and to meet higher timber demand while reducing the area of natural forest harvested. Cooperation is active with bilateral and multilateral agencies and NGOs.

Projected development

The outlook of Indonesia is very promising assuming continuing strong economic growth to support the growing and active population. Whilst the forest areas would decrease to the benefit of the agriculture and pasture land, efficiency in wood production and utilisation would be improved due to better forest management and wood utilisation practices. Industrial and rural planting would continue to be promoted. However, it is expected that the planned industrial planting programme could be constrained by technical and funding problems. The ratio Si/Felling will stay almost balanced. Although a lot of efforts are made in forest management and plantations forests, the wood production versus supply will come slightly into deficit by the year 2010 mainly due to the increasing local consumption. Fuelwood supply will represent 81% of the total roundwood supply by 2010. At that time, the share of the tree plantation in industrial roundwood production would be about 42%.

References

Asiantimber - "Indonesian forestry - Driven by markets, shaped by policy" - by Abbas Adhar - April 1996

FAO - Forestry Paper - 128/124/112

FAO - NFAP - update No 32 - July 1995

FAO - Project GCP/RAS/148/AUL - Support programme for sustainable management, conservation and utilisation of tropical rain forests in Asia. - Proceedings of the project formulation workshop - Bangkok (Thailand) - February 1995

FAO - UTF/INS/066/INS National Forest Inventory - Final Forest Resources Statistics report - June 1996.

ITTO - (Reid, Collins) - Supply and Demand of Sustainable Produced Tropical Timber from the Asia-Pacific Region - September 1993

MoF - Major Development and issues related to sustainable forest management in Indonesia - 16th Session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission - 1996

WB - (Jaakko Poyry) - Tropical Deforestation in Asia and Market for Wood - 1992

Table II.27 - Indonesia: Status and projection

		Unit (1000)	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010
Production forests
Production forests area - total		ha	81,852	79,350	77,235	75,501	73,642
	- Natural exploitable forests	ha	77,418	74,166	71,051	68,067	65,208
	- Plantation forests	ha	4,434	5,184	6,184	7,434	8,434
Commercial growing stock - total		m3	3,893,424	4,106,272	3,998,473	3,906,205	3,840,672
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3	3,716,064	3,559,989	3410,470	3,267,230	3,130,006
	- Plantation forests	m3	177,360	208,464	245,568	290,172	340,776
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	111,764	112,687	115,261	119,478	122,333
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3/year	85,160	81,583	78,157	74,874	71,729
	- Plantation forests	m3/year	26,604	31,104	37,104	44,604	50,604
Fellings ind. round. - total		m3/year	44,200	44,200	45,500	45,500	45,500
	- Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	34,000	34,000	35,000	35,000	35,000
	- Waste and residues	m3/year	10,200	10,200	10,500	10,500	10,500
Other forests and wooded lands
Conservation areas		ha	19,340	19,340	19,340	19,340	19,340
Low productive/open forests		ha	63,256	60,599	58,054	55,616	53,280
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	18,977	18,180	17,416	16,685	15,984
Non forest lands
Commercial tree crops		ha	4,000	4,000	4,200	4,200	4,200
Arable lands		ha	20,000	22,579	24,709	26,795	28,893
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	63,200	70,937	77,488	83,746	90,038
Fellings fuel/other wood - total		m3/year	138,937	149,983	161,906	174,778	188,673
Wood stock incr., all sources		m3/year	193,941	201,804	210,165	219,909	228,356
Fellings, all sources		m3/year	183,137	194,183	207,406	220,278	234,173
Forest and wooded lands		ha	145,108	139,950	135,290	131,117	126,922
Percentage forested lands		ha	80	77	75	72	70
Parameters for projection to 2010
Deforestation factor		%	0.84	FRA 90
Plantation forests progr.		ha	150	200	250	200	200
Removals - ind. roundwood		m3/year	34,000	34,000	35,000	35,000	35,000
Conservation areas		ha	19,340	19,340	19,340	19,340	19,340
Commercial tree crops		ha	4000	4,000	4,200	4,200	4,200
Range lands conversion factor		%	50	estimated
Other/range/barren lands		ha	12,049	14,628	16,958	19,044	21,142

Table II.28 - Indonesia: Known/estimated parameters

	Unit (1000)	1990	Sources
Areas
Total country land (without water)	ha	181,157	FRA - 90
Forests and wooded lands	ha	145,108	FRA - 90
Natural exploitable forests	ha	77,418	MoF/GFSS
Plantation forests	ha	4,434	UTF/INS/065 - FAO
Conservation areas	ha	19,340	MoF
Low productive/open forests	ha	63,256	estimated
Arable lands	ha	20,000	FAO - 1994
Commercial tree crops	ha	4,000	FAO - 1994
Other/range/barren lands	ha	12,049	estimated
Commercial Growing stock, (CGS)
CGS natural exploitable forests	m3/ha	48	WB - JP
CGS plantation forests	m3/ha	40	estimated
Mean Annual Increment (MAI)
MAI natural exploitable forests	m3/ha/year	1.1	ITTO/WB
MAI plantation forests	m3/ha/year	6	ITTO/FAO
MAI low prod./open forests	m3/ha/year	0.3	estimated
MAI commercial tree crops	m3/ha/year	0.8	ITTO - estimated
MAI arable lands	m3/ha/year	3	estimated
Fellings and Removals
Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	34,000	ITTO
Waste and residues	% of ind.rem.	30	estimated
Fuel/other wood consumption	m3/inh/year	0.76	FAO
Population	inh	182,812	UN
Increase per year	%	1.59	UN - average

MALAYSIA

The Forest Resources

Malaysia is a federation of three states: Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The climate of Malaysia is typically humid tropical or wet equatorial with a seasonal monsoon heavy rain. The topography generally consists of alluvial and swampy coastal plains with rolling hilly country inland and mountain ranges in the interior. Tropical forests cover about 58% of the total land area (68% if wooded lands are added). On plains and low hills, dipterocarp forest predominates and represents 87% of the total natural forests. The main species are from the genera Anisoptera, Dipterocarpus, Dryobalanops, Hopea, Shorea and Parashorea. On higher mountains, forest flora show more variations. Along the coast, swamp forests and mangrove have a particular ecological importance. Under the Malaysian Constitution, land is defined as a state matter and forest ownership is within the jurisdiction of the respective State Governments forming the Malaysian Federation.

On the total area of natural forest, a total of about 14 million hectares have been designated as the Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) which is under management. The Modified Malayan Uniform System (55-year cutting cycle) and the Selective Management System (30-year cutting cycle) are applied in Peninsular Malaysia. Selective harvests based on 50-year to 25-year cutting cycles are prescribed in the forests of the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Harvesting of forest resources is carried out by the private sector, ranging from individual operators to multinational companies. Currently, allocation of annual fellings coupes are based on forest inventory data. Harvesting practices have been very damaging for the natural stands and recovery from previous cuttings is not certain as forest loggers practices do not often comply with the prescribed management regulations. Logs export is banned in the Peninsular region and is still authorised in the two other regions.

Deforestation is said to be kept minimal but some forest areas are still being converted into other uses usually agriculture and resettlement of the population. Forests are also affected by shifting cultivation particularly in Sabah and Sarawak. Traditionally, forests have been an important source of raw material for the rural population. Rattan and bamboo's are planted and products represent an industrial asset. Fruits found in the natural forests are of economic value for the local population. Malaysia owns very large rubber and coconut estates which provide a large amount of industrial wood. Man-made forests have relatively limited area in Malaysia and aim mainly to either supply wood industries or to restock areas deforested by shifting cultivation.

Malaysia has over the years been establishing a network of protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity. About 1.39 million hectare have been totally protected as National Parks and Sanctuaries. Large tracts of the PFE have been put under protection status for the conservation of biological diversity. Additional national parks are under consideration.

Forestry sector development

Forestry development in the country is according to a series of "five year national development programmes". In 1992, the National Forestry policy was revised and more emphasis is given to sustainable management, involvement of communities in agroforestry programmes and appropriate conservation programmes. The objectives of the policy are implemented in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah while Sarawak is still relying on the former forest policy adopted in 1954. Also, the existing National Forestry Act was amended in 1993. Provisions are made to prepare and implement state forest management, to implement reforestation plans and to establish a Forest Development Fund. Consideration is given to long-term agreement for forest concessionaires and to provide incentives in forest plantation establishment. Furthermore, initiatives like the National Committee on Forest Plantation have been set-up to promote private sector investment in forest plantation programmes. Concerted efforts are made with the private sector and communities to promote forest sector development and to ensure sustained yield management of the forests.

Projected development

Despite all efforts to control the depletion of the natural forest, enforcement of new laws and regulations to improve management practices will take some time. Natural forests will continue to decrease in terms of area and quality. Considering the present trend in deforestation, almost all natural forests outside the PFE would have been converted into other uses. Domestic consumption is increasing rapidly and possible shortage of timber and pulpwood is foreseen as the population augments rapidly. Malaysia is presently promoting tree plantations schemes with fast growing species but many difficulties arise such as availability of land, land tenure rights, financing incentives, fire protection. Planting objectives could not be achieved in the prevailing conditions. Potential to increase utilisation of wood from commercial tree crops exists although use of rubberwood is already high.

Although, log harvesting from natural forests will decrease regularly, the ratio SI/felling will be kept negative during the period meaning continued forest degradation. However, the ratio SI/felling will pass from 0.6 up to 0.8 indicating some improvement towards total wood production sustainability. Fuelwood share in the total domestic roundwood supply will be 25% (11% in 1990), as industrial roundwood supply will fall by 49% during the considered period. The share of industrial roundwood production from plantations forests will be relatively small (15%) by 2010 in comparison with natural exploitable forests.

References

Asia Pacific Forest Industries - Forest plantations - Too little, too late? - April 1992

FAO - Forest Inventory and Management System project - final report - 1995.

FAO - Forestry Paper - 128/124/112

FAO - Project GCP/RAS/148/AUL - Support programme for sustainable management, conservation and utilisation of tropical rain forests in Asia. - Proceedings of the project formulation workshop - Bangkok (Thailand) - February 1995

FAO - Tropical Forestry Action Plan - 5th draft - 1990

FAO/UNDP - Regional Project on improved productivity of man-made forests through application of technological advances in tree breeding and propagation (RAS/91/004) - Overview Document - October 1993.

ITTO - Supply and demand of sustainable produced tropical timber from the Asia-Pacific region - Sept. 1993 - Draft report.

ITTO - Supply and demand of sustainable produced tropical timber from the Asia-Pacific region - Phase II - March, 1995.

MoF - Forestry and Environment - 1992

Table II.29 - Malaysia: Status and projection

		Unit (1000)	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010
Production forests
Production forests area - total		ha	12,460	11,410	10,459	9,596	8,815
	- Natural exploitable forests	ha	12,355	11,255	10,254	9,341	8,510
	- Plantation forests	ha	105	155	205	255	305
Commercial growing stock - total		m3	697,130	504,543	499,590	475,008	449,766
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3	691,880	630,303	574,206	523,101	476,545
	- Plantation forests	m3	5,250	6,490	8,130	10,170	12,610
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	25,550	23,751	22,147	20,722	19,459
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3/year	24,710	22,511	20,507	18,682	17,019
	- Plantation forests	m3/year	840	1,240	1,640	2,040	2,440
Fellings ind. round. - total		m3/year	52,000	40,300	33,800	28,600	26,000
	- Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	40,000	31,000	26,000	22,000	20,000
	- Waste and residues	m3/year	12,000	9,300	7,800	6,600	6,000
Other forests and wooded lands
Conservation/protected areas		ha	1,390	1,390	2,000	2,500	3,000
Low productive/open forests		ha	9,788	8,917	8,123	7,400	6,742
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	2,936	2,675	2,437	2,220	2,023
Non forest lands
Commercial crops		ha	1,970	2,050	2,100	2,100	2,100
Arable lands		ha	1,040	1,920	2,743	3,536	4,256
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	3,995	4,995	5,893	6,686	7,406
Fellings fuel/other wood - total		m3/year	6,262	6,863	7,522	8,244	9,035
Wood stock incr., all sources		m3/year	32,481	31,421	30,477	29,628	28,888
Fellings, all sources		m3/year	58,262	47,163	41,322	36,844	35,035
Forest and wooded lands		ha	22,248	20,327	18,582	16,996	15,556
Percentage forested lands		ha	68	62	57	52	47
Parameters for projection to 2010
Deforestation factor		%	1.78	FRA 90 and 95
Plantation forests progr.		ha	10	000 ha per year
Removals - ind. roundwood		m3/year	40,000	31,000	26,000	22,000	20,000
Conservation areas		ha	1,390	1,390	2,000	2,500	3,000
Commercial tree crops		ha	1,970	2,050	2,100	2,100	2,100
Range lands conversion factor		%	50
Other/ranges/barren lands		ha	7,597	8,557	9,430	10,223	10,943

Table II.30 - Malaysia: Known/estimated parameters

	Unit (1000)	1990	Sources
Areas
Total country land (without water)	ha	32,855	FRA - 90
Forests and wooded lands	ha	22,248	FRA - 90
Natural exploitable forests	ha	12,355	MoF/GFSS
Plantation forests	ha	105	FAO - Fortyp
Conservation areas	ha	1,390	MoF
Low productive/open forests	ha	9,788	estimated
Arable lands	ha	1,040	FAO
Commercial tree crops	ha	1,970	FAO
Other/range/barren lands	ha	7,597	estimated
Commercial Growing stock, (CGS)
CGS natural exploitable forests	m3/ha	56	MoF/GFSS
CGS plantation forests	m3/ha	50	estimated
Mean Annual Increment (MAI)
MAI natural exploitable forests	m3/ha/year	2	MoF
MAI plantation forests	m3/ha/year	8	estimated
MAI low prod./open forests	m3/ha/year	0.3	estimated
MAI commercial tree crops	m3/ha/year	1.5	estimated
MAI arable lands	m3/ha/year	1	estimated
Fellings and Removals
Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	40,000	ITTO/Fordept
Waste and residues	% of ind.rem.	30	estimated
Fuel/other wood consumption	m3/inh/year	0.35	FAO
Population	inh	17891	UN
Increase per year	%	1.92	UN

PHILIPPINES

The Forest Resources

Forest cover in Philippines is 23% and is the lowest rate found in the insular Asia sub-region. The main forest types in Philippines are Dipterocarp forest, mountain forest (Podocarpus), limestone soil forest, Pine forest (Pinus keysia and P. merkusii) and mangrove. Massive deforestation, grazing, shifting cultivation, forest conversion for permanent subsistence agriculture have occurred legally or illegally during the past 20 years and the remaining exploitable natural forest area is presently very limited. By constitution, all forms of natural resources including forests are owned by the State. The dipterocarp forest is being harvested and logged in accordance with the Philippines Selective Logging system. Ideally the system aims at maintaining the uneven-aged structure of the original forest. However, the capacity of the system to maintain sustained yield forest is questionable; there are also difficulties in applying proper logging practices. In 1992, essentially all of the remaining virgin forest was transferred to non-exploitable reserves and a total log ban is imposed in the virgin residual forest stands. The future wood supply should therefore come from second cut logging of the natural forests or from the plantation logging.

Deforestation remains high and caused by various factors such as forest fires, excessive firewood gathering, improper grazing practices, illegal logging and pests. Concerning the commercial crops, Philippines has a very large coconut estate (3 million ha) and rubber plantations cover about 80,000 ha. Alienable lands have been severely eroded throughout the country and large areas are denuded.

A national forestation programmes was launched in the 1980s and the objective is to plant up to 150,000 ha per year (Paraserianthes falcataria, Eucalyptus deglupta, Acacia mangium). Survival rate was considered very low at the beginning but is expected hopefully to increase considerably in the recently established plantations. Typhoons periodically cause serious damage to the plantation forests.

Large areas have been put under conservation status. However, many of the national parks, sanctuaries and watershed forest reserves are in critical condition and inadequately protected reportedly due to lack of funds and political will.

Forestry sector development

A Master Plan for Forestry Development (MPFD) was formulated in 1990. Massive funding is required to implement the plan and a lot has been forthcoming. A set of new regulations including a draft of the Forest Code, an Environmental Code, a National Integrated Protected Area System Act etc.. have been passed to conserve the forest resources and address the problems of environmental degradation. Public lands including integrated social forestry areas are presently distributed to the farmers under the Agrarian Reform programme. Tree planting programmes are ambitious but wrong price policies to harvest public forests has induced excessive logging and discouraged interest in reforestation.

Projected development

The forest situation in Philippines would imminently face huge problems if the implementation of the MPFD fails. Policy reforms that promote the development of the forest resources are needed. The short-term nature of timber licensing do not motivate private concessionaires to manage and harvest properly the forests. Would Philippines be able to put these reforms in place in time? The forest degradation will continue in spite of efforts to protect the remaining natural forest as the population pressure increases. Improvement of the harvesting practices and the rehabilitation of the logged over areas would help to get a long-term sustainable supply of 3.2 million m³ of industrial roundwood. Lack of investment capital and secure tenure are major constraints for industrial forest plantations and only limited incentives are assumed to be made available to adequately support rural forestry and agroforestry.

The (wood Stock Increment) SI/felling ratio will remain relatively stable but in deficit during the considered period. Fuelwood supply represents 92% of total roundwood supply, the balance being used as industrial roundwood! MAI is relatively high in comparison with other sub-regional countries as all forests are already logged over.

References

AsDB - Forestry Sector Study of the Philippines - 1993

CIRAD-Forêts - Bois et Forêts des Tropiques - Forestry in the Philippines: priority to reforestation - No 246 - 1995

FAO - Forestry Paper - 128/124/112

FAO - GCP/RAS/131/NET - Field doc. N042 - Regional wood energy development programme in Asia.

FAO - Project GCP/RAS/148/AUL - Support programme for sustainable management, conservation and utilisation of tropical rain forests in Asia. - Proceedings of the project formulation workshop - Bangkok (Thailand) - February 1995

FAO/Japan - GCP/RAS/106/JPN - Field Doc No 17 - 1987 - Assessment of forest resources in six countries

FAO/Netherlands - (GCP/RAS/111/NET) - Wood based energy system in rural industries and village applications by P. V. Bawagan

FAO/UNDP - Regional Project on improved productivity of man-made forests through application of technological advances in tree breeding and propagation (RAS/91/004) - Overview Document - October 1993.

ITTO - Supply and demand of sustainable produced tropical timber from the Asia-Pacific region - Sept. 1993 - Draft report.

ITTO - Supply and demand of sustainable produced tropical timber from the Asia-Pacific region - Phase II - March, 1995.

Bureau of Forestry Development (BFD) - Master Plan for Forestry Development - 1990.

Bureau of Forestry Development (BFD) - National Report on Forestry - 1988 (box).

Table II:31 - Philippines: Status and projection

		Unit (1000)	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010
Production forests
Production forests area - total		ha	2,958	2,963	2,993	3,045	3,116
	- Natural exploitable forests	ha	2,447	2,202	1,982	1,784	1,605
	- Plantation forests	ha	511	761	1,011	1,261	1,511
Commercial growing stock - total		m3	209,075	223,156	226,856	233,775	239,511
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3	183,525	165,173	148,655	133,790	120,411
	- Plantation forests	m3	25,550	31,638	39,726	49,814	61,902
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	11,429	12,695	14,034	15,440	16,904
	- Natural exploitable forests	m3/year	7,341	6,607	5,946	5,352	4,816
	- Plantation forests	m3/year	4,088	6,088	8,088	10,088	12,088
Fellings ind. round. - total		m3/year	6,160	5,000	4,000	4,000	4,000
	- Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	4,928	4,000	3,200	3,200	3,200
	- Waste and residues	m3/year	1,232	1,000	800	800	800
Other forests and wooded lands
Conservation areas		ha	4,613	4,613	4,613	4,613	4,613
Low productive/open forests		ha	10,682	9,614	8,652	7,787	7,008
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	4,273	3,846	3,461	3,115	2,803
Non forest lands
Commercial tree crops		ha	3,200	3,200	3,200	3,200	3,200
Arable lands		ha	5,500	5,766	5,999	6,202	6,379
Wood stock increment - total		m3/year	10,300	10,566	10,799	11,002	11,179
Fellings fuel/other wood - total		m3/year	32,213	35,209	38,483	42,062	45,974
Wood stock incr., all sources		m3/year	26,002	27,106	28,294	29,556	30,887
Fellings, all sources		m3/year	38,373	40,209	42,483	46,062	49,974
Forest and wooded lands		ha	13,640	12,577	11,645	10,832	10,125
Percentage forested lands
Parameters for projection to 2010
Deforestation factor		%	2	FRA 90
Plantation forests progr.		ha	50	000 ha per year
Removals - ind. roundwood		m3/year	4,928	4,000	3,200	3,200	3,200
Conservation areas		ha	4,613	4,613	4,613	4,613	4,613
Commercial tree crops		ha	3,200	3,200	3,200	3,200	3,200
Range lands conversion factor		%	75
Other/range/barren lands		ha	7,477	8,274	8,973	9,583	10,113

Table II.32 - Philippines: Known/estimated parameters

	Unit (1000)	1990	Sources
Areas
Total country land (without water)	ha	29,817	FRA - 90
Forests and wooded lands	ha	13,640	FRA - 90
Natural exploitable forests	ha	2,447	Master Plan/GFSS
Plantation forests	ha	511	Master Plan
Conservation areas	ha	4,613	Nat. Report 91
Low productive/open forests	ha	10,682	estimated
Arable lands	ha	5,500	FAO - 94
Commercial tree crops	ha	3,200	FAO - 2010
Other/range/barren lands	ha	7,477	estimated
Commercial Growing stock, (CGS)
CGS natural exploitable forests	m3/ha	75	BFD/GFSS
CGS plantation forests	m3/ha	50	estimated
Mean Annual Increment (MAI)
MAI natural exploitable forests	m3/ha/year	3	BFD - For.Mgt.Bur.
MAI plantation forests	m3/ha/year	8	estimated
MAI low prod./open forests	m3/ha/year	0.4	estimated
MAI commercial tree crops	m3/ha/year	1.5	estimated
MAI arable lands	m3/ha/year	1	estimated
Fellings and Removals
Industrial roundwood removals	m3/year	4,928	FAO 94
Waste and residues	% of ind.rem.	25	estimated
Fuel/other wood consumption	m3/inh/year	0.53	FAO
Population	inh	60,779	UN
Increase per year	%	1.86	UN