DTI and local government policies abet destruction of ancient forest, Greenpeace reveals

Unless the Philippine government gets its act together with regard to policies and programs on forest use and protection, all efforts to curb illegal logging, particularly in the Sierra Madre, is doomed to failure, Greenpeace stressed today in a press briefing for their newest report Sierra Madre under threat: a close look at illegal logging in one of the Philippines’ last remaining old growth forests.

“The schizophrenic policy and programs on forest use and protection being carried out by the government is to blame for the dismal failure of anti-illegal logging operations, particularly in the Sierra Madre,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaigns Director Von Hernandez.

“On the one hand, through declared policies and programs there is a standing prohibition against logging operations in the Sierra Madre. On the other hand, agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and some local government units are strongly pushing for the continuing growth of the furniture industry in the region, and in doing so abetting the destruction of what counts as among the last remaining intact, old-growth forest areas in the country.”

Contained in the Sierra Madre report is the result of the investigations of a Greenpeace research team who photographed and recorded in video logged-out areas along river banks and mountain slopes, as well as logging roads, camps, and cultivated agricultural areas within the protected natural park. The team also interviewed members of the Agta tribe regarding the modus operandi of illegal loggers and the associated rampant corruption within government ranks.

The report further pinpoints Cagayan Valley’s lucrative furniture industry as a major player fuelling the illegal timber trade, asserting that there are around 20,000 wood furniture producers in the Cagayan Valley region which operate on 12-month cycles and require a constant supply of narra and other hardwood which cannot be acquired legally in the area. Despite the ban in the Sierra Madre, local government units and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) continue to list furniture making and wood processing among the region’s top investment opportunities.

Illegal logging has been a constant plague in the Northern Sierra Madre Mountain Range (Sierra Madre), which was declared protected in 1992. Aside from being one of the country’s last remaining small patch of old growth forests, it is home to a number of protected and endemic wildlife species. Unfortunately, the park is also a gold mine to illegal loggers after the prized hardwood, narra.

Experts estimate that close to 97% of the Philippines’ original forest cover has been logged(1), above 50% of which is believed to have been felled illegally(2). Today, less than 3% of Philippine ancient forests remain in small, scattered patches(3). The Asian Development Bank, in its Key Indicators for 2005 reports that among Asian countries, the Philippines has the worst record of preserving its forests(4).

Greenpeace believes that the Philippines has paid dearly for the almost total obliteration of its original forest cover—in the loss of biodiversity, instability and massive erosion of upland soil, serious damage to river and underground freshwater ecosystems, and in horrific landslides and floods that wipe out thousands of innocent lives at a time when deforestation is coupled with extreme precipitation associated with climate change.

“The pitifully few remaining forest areas in our country cannot continue to be placed at the risk of being logged-out,” concluded Hernandez, “The government should address the problem of illegal logging immediately and ensure that all its policies are consistent with their professed commitment to wipe out illegal and destructive logging in the country.”

The Sierra Madre report follows Greenpeace’s release of groundbreaking satellite maps revealing that the world's forests are in critical condition, with less than 10% of the Earth's remaining as large intact forest areas. Highlighted in the maps were the last large intact areas of ancient forests  around the world, including the Paradise Forests which stretch from South East Asia, across the islands of Indonesia and on to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. Much of the large intact forest landscapes of these forests have already been logged: 72% in Indonesia and 60% in Papua New Guinea. The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is currently on tour of Indonesia on a mission to help protect these forests from illegal and destructive logging. The map places intact forest cover in the Philippines at 0%.

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization, which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions essential to a green and peaceful future. It is committed to protecting the world’s last ancient forests and the people and animals that depend upon them.