Overview of timber demand and supply on Leyte Island ... - UQ eSpace

PREFACE
Australian <strong>and</strong> Leyte State University researchers undertook the smallholder forestry project
funded by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), entitled
Redevelopment <strong>of</strong> a Timber Industry Following Extensive L<strong>and</strong> Clearing (ASEM/2000/088),
over four years from January 2000 to December 2004 with one-year extension period
included. The main objectives <strong>of</strong> the project were to promote farm <strong>and</strong> community forestry in
the Philippines through a study in Leyte Province, <strong>and</strong> identify <strong>and</strong> investigate the important
social <strong>and</strong> economic factors influencing participation in small-scale forestry by investigating
l<strong>and</strong>holder <strong>and</strong> community attitudes to small-scale forestry. The project also aimed to
enhance the capacity <strong>of</strong> local researchers to examine socio-economic aspects <strong>of</strong> small-scale
forestry <strong>and</strong> policy development to support increased plantings. We would like to thank,
ACIAR, <strong>and</strong> especially Dr Ken Menz, for the continued support for our work on smallholder
forestry in the Philippines.
The project involved various research activities including surveys <strong>of</strong> smallholder households
in four communities in Leyte, nursery operations <strong>and</strong> nursery systems <strong>and</strong> sources <strong>of</strong>
finance for smallholder forestry. The research outcomes <strong>of</strong> the project were presented at the
end-<strong>of</strong>-project workshop held at the Sabin Resort Hotel in Ormoc City, Leyte Province, the
Philippines, on 19-21 August 2004.
These proceedings are a collection <strong>of</strong> papers presented at the end-<strong>of</strong>-project workshop,
covering a broad range <strong>of</strong> topics in areas <strong>of</strong> technical studies, social <strong>and</strong> economic issues,
<strong>and</strong> institutional <strong>and</strong> policy issues. Some <strong>of</strong> the papers have in fact been published in recent
issues <strong>of</strong> Small-scale Forest Economics, Management <strong>and</strong> Policy. Others are under review
for publication in special issues <strong>of</strong> Annals <strong>of</strong> Tropical Research. It is notable that the papers
presented at the project planning workshop <strong>and</strong> the training workshop held in the early
project period were published in Socio-economic Research Methods in Forestry: Training
Manual, in 2002 <strong>and</strong> two special issues <strong>of</strong> Annals <strong>of</strong> Tropical Research, in 2003,
respectively.
Apart from the project outputs in the form <strong>of</strong> publications, we are proud to say that the
project has vigorously built partnerships between communities, developed improved
seedling production technologies <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>ards, established on-farm demonstration plots for
farm <strong>and</strong> community forestry, <strong>and</strong> introduced policy reforms for community forestry. These
achievements would not have been possible without substantial collaboration between the
Filipino <strong>and</strong> Australian team members. This self-assessment was confirmed by the end-<strong>of</strong>project
review conducted by Mr David Smorfitt in October 2003. The reviewer commented
that ‘the amount <strong>of</strong> research output, capacity building output, <strong>and</strong> the teamwork displayed
are most impressive for a medium-sized project, especially given the terrorism <strong>and</strong> SARSrelated
disruptions’.
We would like to express our appreciation to all the participants in the workshop <strong>and</strong> all
contributors to the proceedings. Our particular thanks should be extended to Renezita Sales,
Edwin <strong>and</strong> Janet Cedamon, Samuel Bernaldez <strong>and</strong> Crisanto Solano in the College <strong>of</strong>
Forestry at Leyte State University who had assisted to run the end-<strong>of</strong>-workshop smoothly.
Finally, we like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the financial support from ACIAR
which allowed us to conduct the workshop. Finally, we would like to thank Annerine Bosch
for the enormous amount <strong>of</strong> work she undertook in the editing <strong>and</strong> production <strong>of</strong> the
proceedings.
Steve Harrison, John Herbohn, Jungho Suh, Eduardo Mangaoang <strong>and</strong> Jerry Vanclay