The Reforestation Value Chain for the Philippines - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 183

The main objective of this paper is to propose a more holistic approach to refor-
estation and tree planting in the Philippines by adopting the “value chain” approach,
first developed for business enterprises by Porter in 1985 and subsequently applied
from the firm level all the way to global industry level (Sturgeon 2001; Kaplinksy
et al. 2003; Elloumi 2004; Kaplinsky and Morris 2005). For the first time, this
paper explores the application of this approach to reforestation. Here I show how
the use of value chain analysis could provide a more long term and holistic perspec-
tive to reforestation in the Philippines which will help address the often myopic
efforts at present. The term “reforestation” is used generically to include all tree
planting activities including agroforestry, whether for environmental protection
and/or economic gain.

9.2 Deforestation and Reforestation in the Philippines

9.2.1 Deforestation Rate

When the Spanish colonizers first set foot in the Philippines in 1521, 90 percent of
the country was covered with lush tropical rainforest (ca. 27 M ha out of 30 M total
land area). By the year 1900, there were still 70 percent or 21 M ha of forest cover
(Garrity et al. 1993; Liu et al. 1993). However, by 1996 there were only 6.1 M ha
(20 percent) of forest remaining (Fig. 9.1). Thus, in last century alone, the
Philippines lost 14.9 M ha of tropical forests.

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

1500 1900 1934 1988 1996

Year

Fig. 9.1 Estimated area (in Million ha) of Philippine forests from the 1500s to the present
(FMB 1998)