EDITORIAL - Depleted forests

Despite a logging ban and projects launched by various government agencies and politicians to preserve forests, the country continues to suffer from one of the highest deforestation rates in East Asia and Southeast Asia, according to studies undertaken by various organizations. The deforestation continues despite public awareness that major natural disasters in recent years could be blamed on massive deforestation, such as the landslides that buried an entire village in Leyte and killed about a thousand people in Albay.

The continuing deforestation calls for a review of policies on saving forests. Most of these policies are unrealistic and do not take into consideration the needs of the communities that make a living out of forestry. President Arroyo, who is in Brazil, should take some pointers from the success of sustainable forestry programs in that country. Brazil, which is home to some of the largest tracts of rain forests in the world, allows its communities to make a living out of forest products. At the same time, the communities are reminded that they have a stake in ensuring that their sources of livelihood will remain sustainable.

Aware of that stake, communities themselves discourage the use of destructive methods such as slash-and-burn farming. They help act as lookouts against loggers who violate prohibitions on cutting down certain types of trees or continue logging in designated forest preserves. These communities are made aware that there are ways of making a living out of forests without denuding watersheds and putting themselves at risk of deadly flash floods and landslides.

Since ancient times, communities have been built around sources of clean water, arable land and forests. Keeping people out of the natural resources that sustain their lives, such as trying to impose a complete ban on all forestry activities, is sure to doom reforestation efforts. The country’s forests can still be saved, if communities are given a clear stake in making sustainable agro-forestry work.