In the 1960s and 1970s, the timber industry experienced a boom,[7] with the industry reaching its peak during the era of President Ferdinand Marcos. [8] The government regularly grants logging concessions of less than ten years. Since it takes 30 to 35 years for a second growing forest to mature, loggers had no incentive to replant. To make matters worse, lump sum royalties encouraged loggers to remove only the most valuable species. A horrible 40 percent of the timber that can never leave the forests, but rotted after being damaged during deforestation, or was burned on the spot. The unsurprising result of these and related measures is that of the 17 million hectares of closed forests that flourished at the turn of the century, only 1.2 million remain today. The above description describes illegal logging in the Philippines from the perspective of a forestry student. In this section, we welcome contributions from other perspectives. Those interested in contributing to this case study can use the following questions as a guide: More than 27 floods and 17 landslides occurred each year in the first decade of the 21st century, as recorded by the Citizens` Disaster Response Center. Statistics show that more than 1.6 million people and 24,212 people are affected by floods or landslides each year during this period.
In addition, damage to agricultural land and infrastructure results in a loss of tens of millions of pesos each year[10]. In addition, the Philippine President announced that illegal logging is one of the main causes of landslides in 2004. These landslides directly caused 1,800 deaths in Quezon province.[12] The Talaandig indigenous people of Bukidnon province had suffered from the negative influence of the protected area managed by local institutions. Section 44 of the Regulations Implementing the National Integrated System of Protected Areas Act of 1992 (NIPAS) in the Philippines declared the rights of indigenous cultural communities over ancestral lands and territories in protected areas and natural parks. However, in order to better manage the Mount Kitanglad protected area and address deforestation caused by illegal logging, managers have removed ancestral domain rights from local Indigenous peoples. However, the management of protected areas is a failure, as the rights of the indigenous population are ignored and the local culture is violated. From a global perspective, the United Nations and other multilateral institutions have proposed an international policy called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+). One interpretation of REDD+ is that it promotes the conversion of natural forests into plantations. For example, some commercial loggers in the Philippines have been able to derive additional benefits from the forest. This REDD+ framework could exacerbate illegal logging in the Philippines to some extent by increasing loggers` profits[14].
Most illegal timber is shipped to other countries, including Japan, the United States, China and Europe.[4] At the national level, the Philippine government banned timber exports after widespread deforestation in the 1970s. To some extent, this policy reduces timber harvesting, including illegal logging by the shrinking timber market. The ban is necessary to combat illegal logging, as the government cannot control corruption and illegal logging.[13] “We are saddened by reports of illegal activities that may have harmed our environment,” Pyramid Hill`s parent company, investment holding company Premiere Horizon Alliance, said in a statement to Mongabay. “Rest assured that the Company will fully cooperate and assist in the prosecution of all parties involved once our operating permits in this region are finalized. According to Mata, residents are alarmed not only by illegal logging, but also by what they fear: a resurgence of plans to dismantle the area that the Pala`wan have been fighting for decades. 2. The fight against corruption is necessary to combat illegal logging. The establishment of the Anti-Corruption Monitoring Committee should involve members of different classes, including rural people, government officials as well as members of NGOs. This monitoring committee should have the power to report directly to the judiciary in order to fight corruption.
Although illegal logging is a major problem in the Philippines, recent government and policy measures have begun to reduce its impact on the environment. Hopefully, with further work and government intervention, illegal logging in the Philippines will be virtually eradicated in the near future. “The spirit with which the SEP Act was introduced is one of conservation, not use,” said Chan of PNNI, an environmental lawyer. “That`s why their goal was to introduce a total ban on logging in Palawan. If this objective is not achieved by the projects currently being pursued by the government, then something is wrong. Palawan is primarily an agricultural and tribal community, making it a tourism and mining industry contradicts its well-known culture and heritage. Illegal logging, on the other hand, generally refers to the selective felling of rare and valuable trees for their timber. In a sense, illegal loggers can be considered “tree poachers.” Regardless of the difference between illegal logging and deforestation, both are extremely harmful to the environment and should be reduced as much as possible [3]. In 1898, the United States regained sovereignty over the Philippine archipelago from the Spanish through victory in the Spanish-American War.
Under the colonization of America, the extent of commercial logging on the archipelago increased massively. As the population grew, some forest areas were converted to agricultural land with or without official permission. During the East Asian War, Japan became famous for the use of timers and non-timber products from the archipelago`s forest resources, including timber in national parks and forest reserves [8]. What recommendations could someone from another discipline or profession give to address the problem of illegal logging in the Philippines? Examples could be 3. The Philippines is not a European Union (EU) Law Enforcement, Governance and Forestry Partner (FLEGT-VPA). I strongly recommend that the Philippine government develop a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU to combat illegal logging[15]. Government corruption is also a major problem. Because poverty is so prevalent in the Philippines, some law enforcement officials accept bribes from people who engage in illegal activities – including illegal logging. This means that the police not only turn the other way, knowing that the forests are being destroyed, but somehow “protect” the loggers by pretending that the area in which they work is free [5].
SEP imposed a province-wide ban on commercial logging, designating natural forests, high mountain areas, threatened species habitats, and other ecologically significant areas as “maximum protection areas” or “core areas” where all tribal activities except traditional tribal activities are prohibited. The words “illegal logging” and “deforestation” are often used interchangeably. However, they relate to very different things.
