Restoration of Philippine Native Forest by Smallholder Tree Farmers - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 319

reference guide Agroforestree Database (Salim et al. 2002) listed 43 tree species
native to the Philippines. Of these 43 species, 28 species have good and sufficient
information about propagation methods (65.1 percent). This is adequately comple-
mented by equally good information about tree management (60.5 percent or 26
spp). On the other hand, only ten species are provided with good information about
germplasm management whereas for 30 species this information is limited. Natural
habitat is next with limited information for most species (27 species; 62.8 percent).
A close third is pests and diseases (limited information for 26 species; 60.5 percent)
followed by reproductive biology and history of cultivation (limited information for
21 species; 48.8 percent). Finally, various species lack any information in one or
more of the following themes: history of cultivation, pest and diseases, germplasm
management, tree management, natural habitat, biophysical limits, reproductive
biology and propagation methods. Based on functional use, the native species are
obviously multi-use or multi-service tree species. The matrix analysis also provided
some interesting observations regarding the way other countries plant these native
species. Barringtonia racemosa (apalang) is solely found in the Philippines, but 32
other places plant it as an exotic species. Another species, Artocarpus altilis though
native to three other places is planted in another 51 countries or major islands.
Several of these native tree species have wide exotic distributions (> 20 countries/
places), namely: Albizia procera, Aleurites moluccana, Flemingia macrophylla,
Lawsonia inermis, Sennasiamea, Sesbania grandiflora, and Syzygium cuminii . This
proves that it is not only the Philippines that have a proclivity for exotics.
In tree domestication researches on appropriate seed, nursery and plantation technolo-
gies for the prioritized species are conducted on-station and on-farm levels to insure that
the production technologies will be acceptable and affordable to the upland farmers. Tree
domestication is farmer-led thus the old paradigm of purely researcher-generated tech-
nologies for the uplands must be complemented by this new paradigm. Farmers can play
an active role in the planning, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation
of the smallholder tree farm programs. Incorporation of indigenous knowledge, when
available, is another viable step. The UNDP Project cited earlier reinforces this recom-
mendation. CBFM sites with strong community participation are ideal areas for
researches of this nature. Various community-based researches are in existence and the
author is currently involved in one of those (Quirino study cited earlier).
Another problem that needs to be addressed by researchers will be improved
planting stock production. In one study, quality of the many nursery stocks in
smallholder nurseries was found to be generally low (Tolentino et al. 2001). Root-
shoot ratios were low, many roots were defective and quite a number were over-
grown. Recommendations were made to improve the production of plantings stocks
namely: availability of improved or quality sources of germplasm, applications of
root pruning, use of alternative containers (e.g. root trainers), development of
appropriate nursery stock quality assessment, and promotion of the use of com-
posts. Since operators of these smallholder tree nurseries are resource-limited,
assistance on training and logistical support is necessary. Other technological
aspects needing specific information for ITS are on proper site selection, appropriate
tree management and sustainable harvesting system.