Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...

170 • Herlina Hartanto
San Rafael,
Tanabag,
Concepcion villages,
Puerto Princesa
Philippines
PACIFIC OCEAN
MANILA
PALAWAN
PROVINCE
Figure 6-2. ACM site in Palawan
Interviews with several villagers revealed that forest quality had declined
over time. Prior to 1970, the villagers observed that forests contained a
high diversity of plants, including timber species, in particular almaciga
(Agathis damarra), ipil (Instia bijuga), and narra (Pterocarpus indicus). After
1970, when a logging concession started its operation, forest conditions
gradually deteriorated, and migrants who practiced shifting agriculture
started to settle in the area. To control forest degradation, the state
imposed a total logging ban in Palawan in 1992 and the mayor of Puerto
Princesa City launched a massive campaign against kaingin (Lorenzo 2001).
Analysis of 1992 satellite images undertaken by Palawan Tropical Forest
Protection Programme 8 showed that 67 percent of the total 18,110 ha of
the administrative areas of the three villages was covered by primary forest
(Figure 6-3). The remaining 33 percent, mostly located at the lower region
and closer to the settlement and the main road, consisted of secondary
forest, brush, and cultivated land. Within the forest itself, only 55.5 percent
of the total 5,006 ha was classified as primary forest. The majority of this
forest type was located within Barangay Concepcion (Hartanto et al. 2000).