Restoration of Philippine Native Forest by Smallholder Tree Farmers - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 311

15.3.1 The UP Land Grant Experience

The University of the Philippines (UP) has two land grants (LGs) in the Sierra
Madre Mountain Ranges (Laguna and Quezon provinces) covering an area of
10,000 ha. Timber harvesting started in the 1960s and was repeated in the 1980s.
It was only in 1989 that legitimate logging was ordered to a halt. Unfortunately, local
residents continue to illegally extract timber, make charcoal and gather other forest
products (poles, rattan, wildlife). The threat to the remaining forests is exacerbated by
the practice of shifting cultivation including the entry of land speculators.
A forest rehabilitation program using indigenous tree species was initiated in
1997. The initial step was the species selection which considered understanding of
user needs and preferences, technological opportunities and systematic methods for
ranking species (Jaenicke et al. 1995). A modification of species priority setting
scheme by Franzel et al. 1996 was used. A series of consultative meetings, mostly
informal discussions, were held with approximately 30 upland farmers practicing
kaingin-making (shifting cultivation) inside the LGs and actual interviews with
illegal loggers mostly during the moment when they are apprehended. A total of 61
tree species were identified and initially listed (Tolentino 2000b). Tree species
preference based on uses (e.g. lumber, furniture, handicrafts, medicine and food)
and market value were ranked (see Appendix). The final list contained tree species
mostly used for general construction - a need very common to the local upland
communities. The study learned that the preferred species are also those which
command good market prices. In addition to the user preference and their marketa-
bility, the Land Grant Management included germplasm availability as another cri-
terion. In the end, there were about 20 species included in the trials. All of the
species were identified by the participants using the local name. The project man-
agement sought the assistance of tree taxonomist to identify the species but a few
remained unidentified. The taxonomic identification of many ITS is one of the
identified limitations in the use of this class of species.
For the selected species simple experiments accompanied by trial and error pro-
cedures were employed to grow them in the nursery and plantation site. A complete
description of the results of the nursery and preliminary plantation performance
was described in Tolentino (2000 a and b). Below is a summary of these findings
for the top eight species planted in a trial of about 20 species.
Most of the fruits and seeds were collected from the ground due to their large
size. Seed dormancy expressed as delayed and staggered germination was observed
only in Batikuling ( Litsea leytensis ) and talakatak ( Castapnosis philippensis ;
Philippine chestnut or wild castanias). All the rest of the species have insignificant
dormancy. The findings clarify the belief that not all seeds of ITS are dormant
which will be advantageous in the large-scale propagation of these species from
seeds in the nursery. On the other hand, dormancy in batikuling and talakatak seeds
causes delays and disruptions in nursery production schedules, thus the need to
neutralize it. This character, however, becomes advantageous if their seeds are
bound for storage. Longer longevity can be maintained even under ambient
conditions which will simplify the storage of these species.