IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-1

Research articleerd

An Approach for Monitoring the Reforestation andConservation Efforts by Local Communities
HISASHI MORI*PASCO CORPORATION, Tokyo, Japan
Email: fammori@hanno.jp

AWADH KISHOR SAH
PASCO CORPORATION, Tokyo, JapanBHUWNESHWAR PRASAD SAH
PASCO CORPORATION, Tokyo, JapanMINAMI YAMAYAPASCO CORPORATION, Tokyo, JapanSENTHIL SELVARAJ
PASCO CORPORATION, Tokyo, Japan
Received 21 October 2014

Accepted 26 April 2015(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Considering Philippines’s well defined commitment toward social forestrysystem since 1970s, we examined its purpose of contribution, motivation and achievement
toward reforestation and forest conservation through interviews with related stakeholders,
as well as decadal forest cover changes by analyzing the forest type classification map of
two different period of time which were prepared based on Earth Observation Satellite(EOS) image data and field sampling. EOS based forest cover change analysis, coupledwith field sampling and stakeholder consultation, resulted into definitive facts and figures,
which can be used for reforestation and forest conservation decision making process.
Keywords community people, forest restoration, forest land-use plan, satellite image

INTRODUCTION
The Philippines has been carrying out Social Forest Program (SFP) since 1970s in order to preserve
the forest properly excluding government owned forest land. In the SFP, indigenous people andlocal communities have effectively used and managed remaining forest in their territories, and thegovernment took the initiative in developing community based monitoring and information system.
Under such circumstance, reforestation through National Greening Program (NGP) and forest
plantation with the participation of local communities has been extended throughout the country.
This Study has been conducted in Mangatarem area of Pangasinan province where local
communities have been dedicating to the forest restoration. Their effort is actively supported by
local government, NGO and DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources).
The main focus of this study is to analyze change of its spatial distribution in forest coveragein their land by using ASTER satellite images, which is one of the widely used EOS for such
purpose.
OBJECTIVE
The forest land cover is concentrated in the hilly area of Mangatarem town. The area has been wellmanaged for restoration of the forest land through series of creation of forestland and conservationⒸ ISERD91

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-1

activities by local communities. The area therefore was selected as a study site to examine theeffect of those efforts by local communities’ participatory forest conservation activities. The
location of the study site is illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Location of the study area
METHODOLOGY
In order to analyze decadal forest cover changes, forest land cover types and its distribution has
been mapped by using EOS images acquired at two different period of time. Changes of the forest
cover were examined in association with the forest land use plan and participatory forest
management where local people had been involved in forest restorations.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Current Status of Forest Conservation and Management in Mangatarem LGU
In the mountain of the study site, high endemic species of plants and animals (terrestrial vertebratespecies) are found, which has been confirmed by the recent surveys. Municipal Local Government
Unit (MLGU) of Mangatarem and DENR, in partnership with Haribon Foundation, have worked
together to further educate the Mangatarem community on forest restoration and conservation withthe support of donation from Japanese companies for planting trees (Municipality of Mangatarem,2013). The Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP) was developed for the conservation of the biodiversity ofthe area. The location of the targeted activities is illustrated in Fig. 2, which form the part of thisstudy site.

NGPsitesFig. 2 Forest Land Use Plan (DENR, LGU (～2040)) over the study area and reforestation
areas (above) by NGP (DENR)Ⓒ ISERD92

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Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of forest restoration by the community
Villagers of the communities, participating in the activity of restoration and conservation, arededicating themselves to planting trees, growing seedlings and taking care of the forest under theFLUP. And the work is coordinated by MLGU with the technical and financial support from
Haribon Foundation; a local NGO; and Japanese companies respectively. For Japanese companies,
it is part of their CSR activities, while for Haribon Foundation, it is non-profit social contribution.
The concept is shown in Fig. 3. The generous contribution from all collaborating institutions,
mentioned above, resulted into the formulation of a Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP) (Borlagdan etal., 1990).
Land use in the forest land is restricted not to log without permission in accordance with theFLUP (Fig. 2) and preserved strictly in some area. In parallel with the FLUP, afforestation has been
conducted since 2013 under the National Greening Program of DENR.
Social-Economic Factors of the Communities Surrounding the Forest Land
As discussed in previous section, effort of the local communities and LGU toward the participatory
forest conservation and restoration in the area is significant. Considering this fact, the study wasconducted through interviews to the stakeholder consisting of villagers in order to grasp thepurpose of contribution, dependence on the forest, livelihood and motivation to get involved in theCommunity-based Forest Management (CBFM). We therefore examined Mangatarem villagers’
considerations and activities toward the Forest Management & Conservation using outcome of theinterviews. As a result, following facts were found.
a. Profile of the community: Local government of Mangatarem consists of 82 barangays. Most ofthe community people are engaging in farming rice and vegetables. Out of 82 barangays, 9 get
involved in CBFM. Furthermore, 10 barangays are participating in restoration of the forest underNGP.
Table 1 Involvement in the forest restoration and conservation
TypeCBFM
NGP
Total No. ofBarangays

No. of Barangays
91082Remarks

Including CBFM and NGP

b. Interviewee and findings: We interviewed 27 villagers in the barangays whose average age was
44.6 years old. Among them, the oldest interviewee was 78 years old and the youngest was 24years old. In the interviews to the villagers, from relevant community, the main questions were (1)Ⓒ ISERD

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motivation to participate in the forest management and conservation, (2) main method ofcontribution to the forest management and conservation activities, (3) expectation from theirinvolvement in the forest management and conservation, and (4) measure to improve livelihood.
The obtained replies have been listed as shown in Table 3.
Table 2 Profile of interviewee
TypeAverage age
Youngest
EldestNumber of Interviewee

Age
44.6 years old
24 years old
78 years old
27 Villagers

Table 3 Mangatarem villagers’ considerations and activities toward the forest conservation
and restoration
Factors noted
Motivation

Main Method of Contribution

Expectation from theiractivities
Measure to improve
livelihood with forest
management

Outstanding Answer
・Improve livelihood (80% of villagers interviewed)
・Yield and gain the co-benefits from the forest (80%)
・Preserve the forest for sustainable environment (88%)
・Nursery of seedling (80%)
・Plant seedlings (92%)
・Preserve forest for sustainable environment (81%)
・Grow and take care of planted trees (62%)
・Increase income and by-product (50%)
・Restoration of natural environment and biodiversity (95%)
・Mitigation of disasters (90%)
・Better landscape for people inhabiting (62%)
・ Plant valuable trees (75%)
・Enhance natural resources for Ecotourism (75%)

Degradation and Restoration of the Forest in the Area
To know what have happened in the areas where the people of the communities involved inrestoration and preservation of the forest under the FLUP, decadal forest cover changes has been
analyzed using the forest type classification map of two different period of time.
a. Land use and forest type classification: Land use including forest types, which is useful input
for forest management practice, were classified using ASTER satellite image. There are four
different types of forest cover in the study area (Fig. 4). The definition of each category of forest
types is given below.
Closed forest:
A type of forest with canopy cover over 70%
Degraded forest: A type of forest which possess uneven sizes of crown with some noticeable
open land
Open forest:
A type of forest with vegetation cover almost below 50% and grass landwith scattered trees
Agro forest:
A type of forest categorized as man-made plantation
Degraded forest is mostly found in hilly land adjacent to Zambales Mountains, whereas theclosed forest on relatively steep slopes of the mountain. And the open forest is embedded amongthem.
b. Forest Cover Change in FLUP Forest Land: The change in area of forest land during 10 years(2001-2010) was estimated to verify the significant change between the forest relatively close tothe communities involved in reforestation and conservation and the other forest land areas. The
summary of the result is shown in Table 4.
As shown in Fig. 5, forest area in the “Strict Restoration-Zone “decreased while the forest inRestoration Zone-1 even increased slightly.
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Fig. 4 Land use and forest type classification
It should be noted that the area falling on the restoration-zone 1 is situated in the vicinity ofcommunities and villagers that have positively contributed to afforestation and planting trees.
Table 4 Decadal change of each forest type accommodating FLUPZone

2001 Area in (Ha)Closed Degraded Open
ForestForest Forest

Strict Restoration Zone 3,498.0
365.0
Restoration Zone1
117.9
Restoration Zone2
46.5
Production Zone

4,027.4

658.9
473.2
189.6
128.8
1,450.5

88.7
176.4
27.3
26.3
318.6

Total
4,245.5
1,014.7
334.8
201.6

5,796.5

2001

2010 Area in (Ha)Closed Degraded Open
ForestForest Forest
3,152.4
212.5
19.7
34.7
3,419.2

705.0
758.7
272.9
237.8
1,974.4

38.4
108.2
16.4
10.9
173.9

Total
3,895.8
1,079.3
309.0
283.4

5,567.4

2010

Decadal change of forest classification image

Restoration-zone

Fig. 5 Comparison of decadal change of the forest area

(Features in red color on the left picture in below line depict the recovery of young forest)Ⓒ ISERD95

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-1

Focusing on the change in each zone of the FLUP, the Closed Forest inside “Strict
Restoration-zone” has been preserved relatively well, say 90% of existing forest remain unchanged,
while the forest area decreased accounting for 48% in other restoration zones. On the other hand,restoration of forest has been found in Restoration-zone resulting in increase of the forest cover by
48% overall, however they fall in degraded forest (secondary forest in this case).
These facts infer the seedlings or shrub in the grassland in the study area have grown high andbigger after nearly 10 years as seen in Fig. 6.
Since Mangatarem LGU have been dedicating to encouraging the villagers to participate in therestoration of forest, where each barangay shall establish at least 10 hectares of woodlots within theproduction zone identified under FLUP. Their effort seems to bring significant effects in the forest
restoration.

Fig. 6 Restoration of the grass land with shrub after 10 years
CONCLUSION
Monitoring of the forest change in the forest land where local people of the communities areinvolving in restoration of the forest was examined and proved to be effective to certain extent inorder to verify their efforts. To make it more conclusive that the forest conservation can besustainably continued, method to evaluate the effect brought from participatory restoration of theforest seems to be more important. It is because of the stakeholders can be encouraged to sustain
their incentives for participating in forest conservation activities since increase of the biomass will
be valued as a credit under the scheme such as REDD+ mechanism.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is noted that great contribution of other organizations such as Japan Space Systems (JSS) andDepartment of Environment and Natural Resource (DENR) remained vital to complete this study.
JSS provided ASTER satellite data and DENR played a courteous role of collecting the related
data. Deep appreciation is given to DENR local staff as well as staff of Mangatarem LGU who
assisted in the field work and helped in conducting interviews with villagers, especially to Engr.
Tomas Vergata and staff of Haribon Foundation, Ms. Maria Belinda de la Paz and Mr. Noel A.
Resurrecion.
REFERECNCE
Borlagdan, S.B., Alegado, E.M., Carillo, I.M. and Alcaria, J.F.A. 1990. Social forestry network, The Cebu
Integrated Social Forestry Project, Network Paper No. 10c. Cebu, Philippines.
Municipality of Mangatarem. 2013. Critical Habitat Management Plan, 2014-2018. Pangasinan, Philippines.

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