TENURIAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE CBFM PROGRAM
by Anton Antonio
April 6, 2015
One of the biggest and contemptuous issues in upland
management is tenure of security of tenure.
Security of tenure provides upland communities with an incentive to
invest in sustainable management of the lands, waters and other resources found
in the uplands. It should be noted that
forestlands are owned by the State. This
public policy made participation of upland communities and other legitimate
stakeholders in upland management very precarious. In the 1990s however, tenurial instruments
were developed to allow private sector participation. Forest tenurial instruments are used by the
State to allocate public forestlands to individuals, organizations and other
entities for effective and responsible sustainable management. Sustainable management, in this sense, means
the priority is on forest conservation over resource extraction. (Antonio,
2015)
The CBFM or Community Based Forest Management Program, being
the primary program of government that promotes self-reliance through
improvement in the general quality of life in the upland communities, has three
tenurial instruments available to its participating community. These are the Community Based Forest
Management Agreement (CBFMA), the Certificate of Stewardship Contract (CSC),
and the Certificate of Ancestral Land Claim (CALC). The CBFM, an economic development program,
aims not only to provide additional livelihood opportunities to upland dwellers
but also to develop and encourage alternative, non-forest based related
livelihood activities in the upland communities (Antonio, 2015).
Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) – a
production sharing agreement between upland communities and the government to
develop, use, manage, and conserve a specific portion of a specific
forestland. The CBFMA is consistent with
principles of sustainable development and pursuant to a community resource
management framework which encourages communities living within the forest area
to actively participate in the sustainable management of the forest area. The CBFMA exempts the holders from paying
rent for the land and paying forest charges on timber and forest products
harvested from plantation. This
effectively encourages tenure holders to establish forest plantations. (Antonio, 2015)
CBFMA which is an agreement between the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the participating people’s
organization (PO). This has a duration
of 25 years, renewable for another 25.
This provides tenurial security and incentives to develop, use and
manage specific portions of forestlands.
It is awarded in place of different land tenure instruments (e.g.,
Forest Land Management Agreement and Community Forest Management Agreement)
issued under the CBFM programs. It is
also the instrument awarded to Pos in allowable zones and buffer zones of
protected areas. (Villanueva, 2002)
Certificate of Stewardship Contract (CSC) are awarded to
individuals or families actually occupying or tilling portions of forest lands
covering a maximum of five hectares only (Villanueva, 2002).
Certificate of Ancestral Land Claims (CALC) are the tenurial
instruments for holders who opt to enter into CBFMA covering portions of
ancestral domains or ancestral lands within forest lands (Villanueva, 2002).
Discussed are the available tenurial instruments of the CBFM
program.
Just my
little thoughts…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/)
REFERENCES:
Antonio, A. C., (2015). “Forest Management Tenurial Instruments”.
Retrieved on April 5, 2015 from http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/.
Antonio, A. C. (2015). “Objectives of the Community Based
Forest Management”. Retrieved on April 5,
2015 from http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/.
Villanueva, T. R. (2002).”Upland Ecosystem Management”. University of the Philippines Open University,
Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines
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