Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4490

House Bill No.

Introduced by Rep. LAWRENCE LEMUEL H. FORTUN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Forests and trees make vital contributions to both people and the planet, bolstering
livelihoods, providing clean air and water, conserving biodiversity, and responding to climate
change."

Forests act as a source of food, medicine, and fuel for more than a billion people. In
addition to helping respond to climate change and protecting soils and water, forests hold more
than three-quarters of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, provide many products and services
that contribute to socioeconomic development, and are particularly important for hundreds of
millions of people in rural areas, including many of the world’s poorest.?

In the Philippines, forests are the heart of the country’s natural wealth being hosts to a
myriad of resources of high ecological and economic value. While the productivity of the
country’s forestry sector has been on a downward trend, its contribution to the economy, in terms
of gross value added, employment, and export revenues, is still substantial. Nonetheless, this
continuing and worsening decline is bound to further aggravate if the government fails to pursue
immediate and effective measures in managing the impact of human encroachment into our
forest ecosystems and rehabilitating our degraded forests.

This bill seeks to create the Forest Studies and Development Center, which will provide
vital research support for the restoration, protection, and sustainable management of Philippine
forests. The Center shall promote and strengthen linkages among relevant government agencies
and non-government organizations, academic institutions, and other stakeholders — both
domestic and foreign — in order to foster a dynamic space for forest studies and advance the
development of the forestry profession.

‘The Forest Studies and Development Center (FSDC) shall be located in the Caraga State
University (CSU) in Butuan City. CSU is one of the leading forestry and agro-forestry schools in
the country with its graduates topping and dominating the forestry licensure exams in the last
five years. Aside from being a top university in these fields, its location is undoubtedly most
strategic for forestry research and development. The university is situated in the so-called Timber
City of the South, the City of Butuan, the regional center of the Caraga Region. Supplying about
seventy percent (70%) of the country’s log output, the region is known as the Timber Corridor of
the Philippines.

With a very strategic location and a ready pool of highly-qualified academics in the fields
of forestry and agro-forestry in the region, the creation of the Forest Studies and Development

"(nd 2018 State ofthe World's Forests, Retrieved from htp:/www.fao.orp/state-of-forests/en!
2 id


Center to be established in the Caraga State University will be most expedient and auspicious fot
forestry research and development studies and initiatives for the protection, preservation 9
rehabilitation of our remaining forest ecosystems.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 2490

Introduced by Rep. LAWRENCE LEMUEL H. FORTUN

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING THE FOREST STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER IN THE
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY (CSU), DEFINING ITS FUNCTIONS AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFORE

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Forest Studies and Development
Center in the CARAGA State University Act.”

SEC. 2. Location. — The Forest Studies and Development Center shall be based in the
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY in Butuan City.

SEC. 3. Delegation of Authority to the Board of Regents. — The Board of Regents of
the Caraga State University is hereby authorized to establish the Forest Studies and Development
Center under the direct supervision of the Office of the President of the University, which shall
have a faculty and staff with expertise in the disciplines of forestry, botany, zoology, agriculture,
and environmental protection.

SEC. 4. Creation and Objectives of the Center. — There is hereby created a Forest
Studies and Development Center in the Caraga State University with the following pbjectives:

a. To foster the restoration, protection, and sustainable management of Philippine
forests;

b. To develop and strengthen technical partnerships with relevant government agencies,

non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and other stakeholders in the

field of forestry;

To develop advocacies and competent professionals in the field of forestry;

To strengthen the research component including the publication of papers and

research findings in the field of forestry;

. To train and advance the technical, scientific, and management skills of forestry
professionals to ensure the integrity of our forests;

£ To organize and hold local, regional, or international forums, seminars and
conferences on best practices and developments in the field of forestry.

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SEC. 5. Appropriations. ~ The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act
shall be included in the General Appropriations of the year following its enactment into law and
thereafter.

SEC. 6. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,