The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Forest Management Bureau (FMB), is pushing for forest certification to boost the country’s wood industry, and prepare various stakeholders for a more competitive arena in the global market.
FMB Director Ricardo Calderon, the country’s top forestry official, said the country’s wood industry needs to catch up with other neighbors in Southeast Asia, especially with the onset of the Asean economic integration, and compete with other countries in the world market.
Calderon said various stakeholders have been consulted in the crafting of a draft executive order (EO) on forest certification. The EO now awaits the final approval of Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje and President Aquino.
In August 2013 the DENR facilitated the formulation of policy guidelines and mechanism on national forest certification. A series of consultations was held to come up with a draft EO on forest certification, including the national standards for forest-management certification.
Calderon said the draft EO was subjected to regional and national consultations, with representatives from people’s organizations, wood and furniture industries, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Other government agencies also took part in the consultation process.
The EO highlights the procedures, composition, rules and management of establishing a national forest-certification system, or the Philippine Forest Plantation Certification System (PFPCS), and provides for the establishment of a Philippine Forest Plantation Certification Council (PFPCC), which shall function as an advisory council to the national governing body (NGB).
The PFPCC shall create the NGB, which shall serve as the chief governing body of the PFPCS.
A forest certification is a market-based mechanism that promotes good practices in forest management and forest-product utilization. It is considered a nonregulatory-conservation and -protection approach, while practicing sustainable utilization of forest resources, according to the FMB.
Forest certification, according to Calderon, supports responsible forest management and utilization through an independent viable compliance. “Other countries already have forest certification. We need to have our own to be more competitive, especially with the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] economic integration,” he said.
Calderon added that forest certification communicates a significant positive image of proper forest management to the public through informed decisions in ethical, low-carbon and sustainable procurement and other business practices.
“With the global effort to fight climate change, many countries want to buy wood and wood products that are certified as legally harvested,” Calderon said.
President Aquino signed EOs 23 and 26, which banned the harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests and established the National Greening Program (NGP), respectively.
The NGP aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of land by 2016. Last year Mr. Aquino, likewise, signed EO 193, expanding the coverage of the NGP to cover the 7.1-million-hectare remaining degraded forest until 2028.
The massive reforestation is being eyed to boost the wood industry, particularly for manufactured wood articles, which is giving hope to the DENR-FMB in increasing forestry’s contribution to the GDP.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the country’s forestry sector as a contributor to GDP has declined significantly from 12 percent in 1980 to less than 1 percent in 1994.
Still facing an uphill climb, the country’s wood industry expressed support behind the push for forest certification. While the industry, represented by the Philippine Wood Producers’ Association (PWPA), is pinning its hope on a more stable policy environment that will revive the “dying industry” that will ensure sustainable forest management, it believes that forest certification will benefit the wood industry, in general.
PWPA is the national association of corporations, partnerships and individuals involved in forest management, logging, forest-plantation development, manufacture of lumber, veneer and plywood, pulp and paper and other wood products, as well as in trading, shipping and sales of these products.
Maila Vasquez, executive director of PWPA, said forest certification will put into a higher level the wood and wood-based products industry.
“This certification will assure that the wood used came from a legal source and a sustainably managed forest,” she said.
PWPA sits as a member of the NGB, which crafted the draft EO on forest certification.
“Wood certification has been existing since the 1990s. We follow the market-driven trend. Our neighboring countries have a policy that they will not accept wood products if they are not certified,” Vasquez added.
While she said some countries are not as strict as others in requiring wood certification, the impact of climate change and the clamor for sustainable forest management could prompt most countries to adopt similar polices.
“The industry is evolving because of climate-change issues. This is one way of contributing to the global effort to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“Wood is the best solution to climate change. Unless it is burned, it will not release carbon into the atmosphere,” she said.
Vasquez added that aside from a steady supply of wood, a stable policy environment is needed for the country’s wood industry to recover from the decades-old slump as a result of massive deforestation. “What we really need is a stable policy. I am not saying the industry is dying, but we are fighting for survival,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez added that the group continues to promote the use of wood being a renewable source of materials for construction and furniture, and as a way of increasing the country’s carbon- absorption capacity.
“If you plant a tree, it absorbs carbon dioxide. The tree releases oxygen, while the carbon is retained in the wood.
“If the tree grows and its marginal utility is reached, the trees are cut, but the carbon remains in the wood. The wood captures carbon and it will stay there, unless it is burned,” Vasquez said.
She said the push for the massive reforestation and cultivation of forest plantation will boost the revival of the wood industry, noting the need for sustainable supply for its many uses.
“There are many challenges. But the industry is not dead. Wood remains as the best construction material. We are encouraging members, because there is a future in forestry. The challenge is huge but we need to move forward,” she said.
According to Vasquez, there is a need for stability in terms of policy. She said the industry supports the passage of the Sustainable Forest Management Act, which has been pending in Congress for more than two decades. “This could provide a road map and stability to the forestry sector. Every industry needs a road map,” she said.