Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.1 Exports of falcata sawnwood from Cagayan de Oro Port,
The Philippines ( Regional Statistical Year Book 2000, Neda Region
X and 1995-96 Misamis Oriental Provincial Socio-economic
Profile)
Year Volume a (m 3 ) Value (million PhP)
1994 22,863 87,218
1995 30,971 142,614
1996 42,361 237,924
1997 25,175 165,421
1998 1,795 43,144
1999 113 1,127
a Volume adjusted from weight assuming the conversion factor for
sawn wood of 1.43 m 3 ton −1 (ITTO 1996)
Smallholder tree farming enterprises are also contributing substantially to
employment generation in the region. In the SSS surveyed, for every mini-sawmill
an average of five workers (considering part time and full time workers) are
employed in the various activities involved, from tree harvesting and processing to
business management. Thus, around 675 people may be directly employed by the
mini-sawmill industry in Region 10 in 1996. Even if this estimate does not consider
the many people involved in associated activities such as transporting and further
processing and marketing, it represents six percent of the work force of all process-
ing mills (i.e., sawmills, veneer and plywood mills) in the country as reported by
ITTO (1996).
Planted trees also represent a large percentage of the national and international
production and trade of tropical timber in the Philippines. According to ITTO
(2001), “as of 1999, logs coming from plantations made up to 70 percent of the log
production of 712,000 m 3 ” (i.e., 500,000 m 3 of the total log production comes from
planted trees). In 2000, log production registered an increment of 9.6 percent over
the previous year primarily due to harvest of planted trees within private land (Dy
2002). And in 2002, log production was 398,196 m 3 , of which 46 percent was
falcata, 13 percent gmelina and 4 percent mangium (ITTO 2003). Considering that
in the Philippines sawn wood exports are restricted to those arising from planted
trees or from imported logs (ITTO 1996), between 1995 to 1998, 40 percent to 45
percent of the total sawn wood exports would have come from planted falcata trees
(Table 8.2). This figure is probably higher considering that eight owners of SSS and
medium size wood industries interviewed reported exporting sawn timber of
gmelina to other Southeast Asian countries. Although timber trade statistics do not
specify whether logs originate from industrial forest plantations or from small-
holder farms, responses and data reported in this study support the hypothesis that
a large percentage of the logs traded are produced on small farms.
The Philippines, like other former timber exporters in Asia such as Thailand and
Vietnam, is now a major importer of timber. In the year 2000, imports accounted for
40 percent of the total supply of logs, 70 percent in lumber and 20 percent in ply-
wood and veneer (Dy 2002). Until recently, growing domestic demand of timber has
 
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