Sustaining Community Livelihood and Biodiversity through FOREST RESTORATION in Zambales Mountain Range IBA, Philippines

Both the Forestory program of the Haribon Foundation and the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) contributed to the success and effective biodiversity conservation program, and the observance of poverty reduction in the municipality of Mangatarem.

Sustaining Community Livelihood and Biodiversity through FOREST RESTORATION in Zambales Mountain Range IBA, Philippines

Both the Forestory program of the Haribon Foundation and the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) contributed to the success and effective biodiversity conservation program, and the observance of poverty reduction in the municipality of Mangatarem.

As part of the Project’s continued support for forest restoration initiatives, a rainforestation training was initiated by the Project together with the partner Site Support Groups (SSGs) to provide partner local communities with sustainable livelihood technologies on nursery establishment and management, cost-effective forest restoration approaches, and at the same time motivated them to work for the restoration and rehabilitation of the remaining forestlands of Zambales Mountain Range Important Biodiversity Areas (IBAs).

Through the various capacity building activities initiated by the project members of the SSG, mainly forest dependent families (FDFs), and small tenant rice farmers, they were able to establish their own communal and household nurseries.

The Haribon Foundation, Birdlife partner in the Philippines, provided technical assistance to the partner SSGs on organizational management, leadership building, finance management, forest fire control, forest patrol and law enforcement. Six (6) new peoples organizations (POs) organized, and formed as Local Conservation Groups/Site Support Group (LCG/SSG) in the Zambales Mountains IBA in Mangatarem. The LCG/SSGs entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Haribon Foundation and the DENR to intensify forest restoration and protection activities in the IBA. The MOA spelled-out the roles and responsibilities of the participating parties, which include payment for the land preparation and protection, seedlings and plantation maintenance, and ensuring that seedlings produced by the participating FDFs will be procured by the project. All participating FDFs directly benefited from this arrangement wherein they earned a modest amount/income for every seedling purchased by the project. Their small earnings and savings from their communal nurseries were able to support the basic and daily needs of the participating FDFs.

Series of technology trainings on vermi-composting, integrated pest management (IPM), goat raising and production, food processing, among others were launched by the project for the 7- forest-edge communities adjoining the IBA. Key leaders from the surrounding villages and members of the 7 partner LCG/SSGs comprised the target groups for these trainings.

The sale of the seedlings is allocated in 5 schemes, portion of which goes to the collection of seedlings and wildlings, nursery establishment, transplanting, LCG/SSG operations fund, and community livelihood. The members of the LCG/SSG used both the community and livelihood fund to establish biodiversity-friendly livelihood such as vermi composting, goat raising and production, tilapia culture, scrap material recovery and collection and operations of a junkshop.

They also established income generating projects such as rentals for videoke machine and hand tractor. They also purchased a motorcycle with carrier for the transport of the videoke machine and delivery of the vermi cast to local farmers for their farms. Three POs were able to construct bunk houses to store their farm implements and meeting place during PO’s regular meetings. Four out of the seven POs implemented micro-credit projects, which include production, provident and emergency loan for members.

Initial results revealed that they earned considerable amount of income from the seedlings production, forest restoration, and the implementation of their livelihood and income generating projects. These additional earnings of the community led to the decrease of the time spent by the FDFs and small tenant rice farmers in firewood gathering and charcoal production.

The local partner POs in Mangatarem aim to sustain and continue the various biodiversity-friendly livelihood projects to ensure the conservation of biodiversity in the IBA and continuous income for the participating FDFs.

With these outcomes, the diversification of biodiversity-friendly livelihood options and income generating projects helped reduce the threats to the tropical rainforests of Mangatarem in the Zambales Mountains IBA, which contribute to the improvement of the socio-economic situation of the local forest stewards in Mangatarem.