Fair and transparent benefit-sharing in Philippine Government forest restoration programs

Abstract

People's Organizations (POs) in the Philippines have been working with the Government in programs and projects with upland communities since the adoption of a national community-based forest management strategy 25 years ago. The long-term success of Government reforestation programs depends on the incentives of POs to continue managing the resources beyond the lifetime of the program. Clear access and utilization rights - including fair and transparent benefit-sharing agreements - are pre-conditions to this process. This brief provides concrete policy recommendations to ensure that POs can benefit adequately from the timber and non-timber forest resources they have contributed to creating through planting forest- and fruit-tree species or in restoring and rehabilitating forest areas through the protection and maintenance of naturally regrowing seedlings