Smallholder Tree Growing in South and Southeast Asia - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 16

improvement in forest coverage has been accomplished yet, with the Philippines
being ranked at number six on the list of most forest-poor countries (based on the
percentage land area under forest cover in 2005) in South and Southeast Asia (with
18 countries in total). However, most efforts directed at community-based forest
management and on-farm tree growing are of relatively recent date (with a large
area extension from 2000 onwards; Table 1.3) and, hence, the much awaited results
still require some time for conclusions to be drawn.

1.7.1 Why the Philippines as a Case Study Country?

The discussion above partly reveals the special status of the Philippines within
Southeast Asia in terms of environmental and socioeconomic and political develop-
ments. Whereas it is a democratic independent country these days, it has been
influenced by foreign administrations being under the colonial rule of Spain, the
United States and Japan (occupation of 1941-1945) for more than 400 years
(1521-1946). Some of the earliest official tree growing and reforestation activities
and research records date back to the American colonial period: the tree planting
activities at the campus of the University of Philippines at Los Baños after the
foundation of the Department of Agronomy and Forestry in 1910. The Philippines
further stands out as a country within Southeast Asia which has lost most of its
original tropical forests. However, at the same time, it has a long history in com-
munity tree growing or forestry programs and the formulation of policies and laws
to create a legal regulatory regime conducive to the implementation of such pro-
grams. Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, the Philippine laws and poli-
cies in support of community forestry are among the most elaborate and enlightened
(Cabarle and Lynch 1996). Yet the implementation lags, political will is limited or
absent within many government institutions, and many laws, policies and programs
are more than superficially contradictory. The implementation is further compli-
cated by the regular occurrence of natural, or partly man-induced, disasters such as
typhoons, earthquakes, floods, mudflows, and land slides. Within the context of
such a challenging environment, the Philippines form an excellent case study coun-
try for the identification of potentials and constraints of smallholder tree growing.
In addition, the Philippines hold a special status with the main editors of this
topic. Both are affiliated with Philippine-based institutions for a longer period of
time, enabling the accumulation of relevant information on the topic of this topic,
i.e., Rodel Lasco through his work at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF
Philippines Liaison Office) with its regional head office in Bogor, Indonesia and
Denyse Snelder through her work with the Cagayan Valley Programme on
Environment and Development (CVPED), a university partnership of Leiden
University in the Netherlands and Isabela State University in the Philippines.
ICRAF started its operations in the Philippines in 1993 in the College of Forestry
and Natural Resource Administration building at the campus of the University of
Philippines at Los Baños. CVPED started its university programme in 1989 at the