Criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of a community-based forest management project in the Philippines

Abstract

Environmental degradation is a pressing problem for most countries throughout the world. Forests, which are among the most fragile of ecosystems, are continuously being threatened. In the Philippines, forest cover has declined from 17 million hectares in 1930 to only 5.8 million hectares in 2000 The Philippine Government has adopted community-based forest management (CBFM) as a strategy for the sustainable management of the country's forest resources. As a producing member of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Philippines is using ITTO's criteria and indicators to evaluate progress towards sustainable forest management. However, criteria and indicators to determine if indeed a particular area under CBFM is being managed sustainably are still being developed. A study was therefore carried out in a CBFM project in Ilagan, Isabela, the Philippines to identify a set of criteria and indicators of sustainability for CBFM projects that would be acceptable to and measurable by communities or people's organizations.

Source or Periodical Title

Unasylva

ISSN

416436

Page

22-26

Document Type

Article

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