Solon wants more protection for PH forest resources

The senator cited that the country has been losing approximately 47,000 hectares of forest each year, increasing the risk of massive social and economic losses from resource depletion and climate disasters. (Pixabay file photo)

MANILA — A bill proposing a comprehensive sustainable forest management strategy to safeguard the country’s dwindling forest resources has been filed at the Senate.

In a statement on Friday, Senator Pia Cayetano said the Senate Bill No. 284, or the Sustainable Forest Management Act, aims to preserve and optimize the utilization of forest resources.

“Forests provide the country with natural resources that contribute to economic growth. They provide livelihood through raw materials that are converted into finished products,” Cayetano said.

“At the same time, forests serve as protection and buffer from natural disasters, and help mitigate the effects of climate change,” she added.

The senator cited that the country has been losing approximately 47,000 hectares of forest each year, increasing the risk of massive social and economic losses from resource depletion and climate disasters.

She stressed the need to protect the forests not just as an environment matter, but an “economic imperative”, as she quoted President Rodrigo Duterte in saying “natural disasters are poverty creators.”

The bill mandates the Forest Management Bureau as the primary agency to oversee the development, management, and utilization of forest lands, including the identification of areas for protection or production purposes.

It also proposes to rationalize the establishment, operations, and development of forest-based industries.

The bill seeks to establish agroforestry economic zones to ease the conduct of business and attract local and foreign investments.

It provides for a Community-Based Forest Management Program (CBFMP) to be undertaken by concerned national agencies and the local government units.

“With this, we aim to empower indigenous people’s groups and other forest-based communities as stewards managing our forest resources in a sustainable way,” Cayetano said.