Agri, timber firms can soon reforest and develop gov’t lands

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Participating firms will have to reforest half of the government land they are developing

MANILA, Philippines – Agriculture and timber companies are among those which can soon develop barren public lands in want of reforestation.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which previously said it was opening 1.2 million hectares of government land for private investments, is nearing the launch of this new iteration of their reforestation program.

“The sectors that are invited there are agriculture — because now you can do agroforestry — [and] the timber sector that almost is dead,” Environment Undersecretary Carlos Primo David told reporters Thursday, June 5, in the sidelines of a forum on marine biodiversity. This statement comes ahead of the program’s launch he said will happen in June.

Among others they are expecting are companies involved in alternative energy sources, eco-tourism, and those interested in the carbon credit market.

“If you wait for the government to do reforestation of one million hectares — nothing,” David added in Filipino. “It will take us many years.”

David said the program will enable the government to hit reforestation targets and give the private sector “some economic activity to sustain” the greening efforts.  

The environment undersecretary heads the geospatial database office inside the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, established to map and monitor Philippines’ natural wealth in an effort to protect as well as assign economic evaluation on these resources.

The DENR spearheads the National Greening Program, the country’s flagship reforestation program, an expanded version of which aims to rehabilitate 7.1 million hectares of denuded land by 2028. Outgoing Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga had previously said there’s a need for a new reforestation program.– Rappler.com