Biodiversity Conservation Network
12. Abaca Fiber and Rattan from the Forests of Mindanao
Location: Bendum, Pantaron Forest, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines Partners: Environmental Research Division, Manila Observatory (ERD)
Southeast Asia Sustainable Forest Management NetworkProject Title: Bendum, Pantaron Forest Management Project, Bukidnon, Mindanao BCN Funding: $426,798 Partner Contribution: $340,408 Grant Period: May 1, 1995 - April 30, 1998
Project Overview
One of the few remaining habitats for the highly endangered Philippine eagle, Mindanao's Pantaron Range is also one of the nation's most critically important watersheds, giving rise to several major rivers, including the Pulangi, the Philippines' second largest river. The Pantaron Forest Management Project is adjacent to one of the ten sites the World Bank has identified as biodiversity priorities for the Philippines. Threats to the forest include conversion and overharvesting of resources.ERD and its partners seek to counter these threats by working with a community of indigenous people, the Bukidnon, to improve their quality of life by marketing several non-timber forest products and obtaining more secure recognition of their ancestral lands. The project is assisting the community in marketing abaca fiber while making preparations to market rattan. These preparations include obtaining a rattan cutting license for the community, promoting sustainable rattan harvest practices, and developing the financial skills of community members.
This forest management project represents an attempt to formalize community-controlled rattan concessions, which will be an important step toward the sustainable use of this and other forest products. ERD is also laying the groundwork necessary for the indigenous people of the area to obtain a certificate of ancestral domain claim (CADC), the most binding form of recognition provided to indigenous communities by the Philippine government.
While ERD's activities focus on the project site in Bendum, it is also seeking to coordinate its efforts with other NGOs active in northern Mindanao to assist indigenous peoples to conserve the entire Pantaron Range. An innovative aspect of ERD's activities is its plan to document linkages between resource management and water availability. ERD believes that establishing this connection will encourage Philippine policy makers to provide more effective support for biologically diverse upland areas.
1996 Accomplishments
The major BCN-funded activities at Bendum and Malaybalay included: 1) planting (17 sites) and monitoring abaca (6 community trials plus ERD monitoring) for eventual production and weaving of high quality fiber, 2) skills training and production of prototype handicrafts, 3) developing market links in St. Peter (neighboring village) and identifying potential traders from the community, 4) selecting local forest guards and translating training materials, 5) biological monitoring (training of community members as team leaders, community mapping of rattan resources), and 6) socioeconomic monitoring including looking at resource ownership, land use, classifications, oral histories and kinship mapping which contributes to Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) (non-BCN funding used), ongoing monitoring of family groups' status and community dynamics, and development of cultural economic indicators.Expansion of activities continued into Tawantawan and Mahayag, neighboring localities: community mapping, cultural perceptions of rattan, the forest, and water, socioeconomic surveys and interviews. A decision was reached to work for a joint CADC with Bendum. ERD submitted technical maps and cultural data for CADC. Negotiations for the rattan license for Bendum were postponed but the community refused the licensed concessionaire, Tronovel International, access to the rattan resources. Forest, health, and water committees are active, attracting additional members including women and deep forest dwellers.
Success Stories
Two incidents indicate strengthening of Lumad (indigenous) leadership. First, there was concern on the part of the forest committee over the pressure from Dumagat (lowlanders) in St. Peter to obtain wood from Bendum to build their houses. Much of the monitoring has been related to this pressure. The committee decided to use the fallen logs for houses and construction within the community and have continued to refuse to allow the movement of logs outside the community of Bendum. Second, when the Mayor of Malaybalay came to Bendum with a medical team, the growth of the Tribal Council was tested. The members of the council took the lead in bringing up issues, deciding what not to discuss and obtaining support from the Mayor for their various activities.
Challenges
The major challenge along the Pantaron range is keeping at bay the powerful forces that either threaten the physical security of the people or degrade the forest resource base that is the locus of spiritual as well as economic value. While some minor incidents occurred, there is now a situation of relative peace. This peace allows for intense negotiations over resource rights and access, as well as roles and forms of decision-making, within the indigenous Lumad community and among the Lumads, Dumagats (migrants) and government officials. Keeping the process peaceful is critical to the success of all efforts.In terms of the BCN project, a major challenge is to provide sufficient social and economic benefits from low impact and culturally empowering activities to balance the temptation to sell, rent or otherwise alienate land for intensive agriculture but not promote activities that are so profitable that they attract too much attention from outsiders. These challenges can only be met by a holistic and strategic approach that focuses on a longer term goal of negotiating cultural and economic integrity within a clearly delineated territory. Road building may soon pose a threat as well, while serious health problems and debt are continually present in the community.
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