(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY)

A Case Study of Bayawan City, Negros Oriental on Controlling the Effects of Lowland Flooding and

Siltation through Sustainable Forest Land Use Planning and Management:

A Contribution to the Philippines Country Environmental Analysis

September 2008

Elmer S. Mercado, EnP1

1 World Bank Consultant. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. This paper is for public comment and use. You may send your comments to the author with email address elmer_sm@yahoo.com.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) Summary: For several decades, flooding and siltation has been the perennial bane of the city of Bayawan. It has destroyed millions upon millions of pesos worth of property and crops that whatever bounty it receives from its vast agricultural lands are always negated by the devastating effects of floods and landslides coming from its denuded and degraded upland areas. This specter of disaster becomes even more distressful to Bayawan’s 112,000 people as the effects of global climate change and extreme weather shifts become more pronounced to the barely 5-year old new city.

The prospect of living under a perpetual threat of disaster prompted the city government of Bayawan to “directly and squarely” address the root cause of these problems – its widely denuded forestlands. Bayawan City has approximately 20,245 ha of lands classified as forestlands. Out of these, around 5,811 ha are considered tenured or officially and legally allocated to individuals and communities by virtue of various kinds of tenurial instruments issued by national government. The remaining 14,434 ha or more than 70% of Bayawan’s forestlands are not covered with any form of tenurial instrument and are considered untenured or ‘open access’. These “open access” areas leads to uncontrolled and unmonitored conversions to agricultural lands and unsuitable cultivation practices that results to significant loss of soil cover and the regular occurrence of landslides, siltation and flashfloods in Bayawan’s lowland barangays.

The Bayawan forest and land use plan (FLUP) was formulated with the highest priority

accorded to protection land uses in all aspects of land management. Its aims were the following: a) protection of critical ecosystems and biodiversity from further human activities; b) rehabilitation of degraded land resources; and c) protection of the people from future environmental hazards. It was a process that integrated consensus-building and direct involvement of local stakeholders, especially from the affected barangays and communities of the city, in the whole process of the FLUP. It was a critical component of the process to ensure local “ownership” and “buy-ins” by both the community and Bayawan’s local leadership.

Community mapping activities that were simultaneously conducted with community profiling

activities produced local community profiles, data sets, community resource and land use maps they served as critical inputs to the preparation of the FLUP and validated by local community groups. Knowledge of key informants in the barangay and other stakeholders were sought to map out the indicative location of the bio-physical profile of the barangay including infrastructure and other important information relevant to FLUP.

Along with the local IEC campaigns, local community members led by the BTWG were

engaged in the actual conduct of community surveys, profiling and mapping of local forest and land use resources and information. Local people also participated in the collation, summary and validation of barangay information gathered from the surveys, profiling and mapping activities. During these activities, the BTWG and community were given technical guidance and training by the CTWG and Project Team.

To facilitate the preparation and necessary analysis for the FLUP, the LGU of Bayawan City

created an FLUP team headed by the Vice Mayor with the City Planning and Development Office as the Secretariat and LGU department in-charge as members. Staffs from the socio-economic, legal, engineering, agriculture, budget and treasury offices were assigned to support the FLUP team. The FLUP methodology employed the watersheds as planning units. This is to break down the city into manageable units with defined boundaries (mountain ridges), a distinct set of interdependent and interactive physical, climatic, biological and social components. In this way, comparative analysis and prioritization ranking were made. Once the FLUP was finalised, it was presented and approved the local development council and the city council.

To support the implementation of its FLUP, the city entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the national environment department to co-manage all of the city’s 14,434 ha of untenured or open access forestlands. This gave the city direct responsibility to manage its

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) unallocated forestlands as well as oversee the proper management of existing management regimes in allocated forestlands as outlined in its approved FLUP.

Bayawan’s commitment to supporting and achieving the goals and objectives identified in its FLUP was clearly seen with the regular appropriations made to environment and natural resources services. Over the last five years, Bayawan poured a total of PhP 145 million or US$ 3.22 million (as US$1=PhP45) or an average annual appropriations of almost PhP 29 million or US$645,000 for environmental and natural resources services starting 2004. The city has continuously allocated almost 100% of the total funding requirements needed for the implementation of FLUP activities as identified in its 5-year implementation plan totaling PhP 36.370 million or around US$ 808,222.

Likewise, local ordinances for the protection and preservation of natural forest were also

enacted to further strengthen community and barangay level enforcement of forestry and environmental laws. Finally, the effectivity of Bayawan’s FLUP was its link and integration to other LGU development plans. These include the city’s comprehensive land use plan, solid waste management plan (SWM), revised coastal resource management and development plan, and disaster and sanitation/drainage plan and infrastructure development plan. The FLUP will also serve as a critical input to the preparation of the city’s climate change mitigation plan by the end of 2008.

Whilst the economic and physical benefits of Bayawan’s sustainable forest management

strategy can only be felt after several more years, the initial effects of the city’s efforts to upgrade and restore its denuded forestlands is slowly being felt with the reported reduction in the incidence of flash flooding and siltation in the city’s lowland barangays and city centers. In cases where flooding occurred, flood waters easily subsided. This is due to the soil erosion and riverbank protection measures implemented by the city at the start of the FLUP implementation in 2004. Over the last three years, the city has established 134,000 linear meters of riverbank protection lines representing 78% of riverbank areas needing vegetative protection. It has also established more than 14,000 linear meters or 14 km of 10-meter-wide firelines covering around 40 hectares of grasslands in the city’s primary watershed area.

Likewise, local policies on water production area (WPA) for 17 barangays within the forestlands were formulated with about 63 hectares of identified WPAs have been replanted with fruit and forest trees. Similarly, some 100 hectares of jatropha and 378 hectares of rubber plantations were established as part of the diversification of traditional farm crops in the city’s upland areas. To date more than 500 households (HH) have directly benefitted from these projects and another 2,000 households (HH) are potential beneficiaries in the next five years of the implementation of the FLUP.

Enforcement of forest protection ordinances was strengthened with the deputation of 96

barangay environment and natural resources officers (BENRO). In 2007, some 2,750 board feet of illegally cut and sawn Gmelina and dipterocarp lumber have been confiscated as a result of BENRO vigilance. And more recently, individual property rights in the form of Agroforestry Management Agreements (AMA) have been given to 17 farmers with a total of 46 hectares of forestlands.

Bayawan’s effort to effectively and sustainably manage all its forestlands is a long-term

process that requires strong political will and commitment not only form its local leaders but also from the whole community. The city has largely spent its own funds to implement its FLUP, it remains fully committed to complete the FLUP’s implementation. The city and its leaders know that addressing the denudation of Bayawan’s forestland is the only way for the whole city to overcome the local effects of climate change, improve productivity of its vast agricultural lands and achieve long-term economic growth of their community.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) WB CEA Case Study: Bayawan City Forest Land Use Management2

A. Overview October 24, 2003 is a date that will be forever stuck in the minds of Bayawan’s more than 100,000 people. On that day five years ago disaster, the worst the city has experienced in recent years, struck the city and its more than 100,000 residents. Ten out of its twenty-eight barangays were inundated by mud and flood waters that came from its mountains after a week of continuous rains. The heavily silted Bayawan River, the lifeblood of the city, and its tributaries swelled to frightening levels that caught most residents by surprise. The whole city was devastated causing massive damage amounting to millions of pesos to private property, agricultural crops and local infrastructure. Many of the people of Bayawan saw this as a foretelling of worst things to come as the effects of global climate change and continued local forest denudation and soil erosion remained unabated and unmanaged.

Bayawan city is no stranger to flooding and landslides. Such events are yearly occurrences in the city especially during the rainy season from June to December due to the state of deforestation and denudation of its forestlands and siltation of its major waterways particularly the Bayawan River. Flooding is most common in flatlands particularly in the urban center. Flood prone areas include Sitio Cansig-id, Cambulo, Cabcabon, Proper Banga Ricefields along Cagayon Creek (Proper A) Riverbank of Sicopong River, Shangri-La, Tiamaan, Purok 2, 3, 4 Ondol, San Ramon and San Agustin (FLUP, 2004). Along the Coastal Margin (Pagatban, Malabugas, Banga and Villareal) and even in the upland barangays with low-lying built-up areas (such Minaba, Kalumboyan and Tabuan), flooding is also a perennial issue since there are no established drainage infrastructure projects in these barangays.

The flooding and drainage problem of the city requires for both short-term and long-term solutions. Identified short-term solutions include the proper maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure and the expansion of construction projects. The long-term solution will include the effective rehabilitation of the watershed areas, reforestation, riprapping of riverbanks and maintenance of river easements such that soil erosion and subsequent siltation of the rivers will be reduced if not eliminated. This entails long-term integrated (multi-sectoral) and environment-focused planning, sound policy-making, strong political will and support, effective law enforcement, and vigilant monitoring.

For Mayor German P. Sarana, Jr, the October 2003 disaster was a strong wake-up call for the entire city and its local officials. It was a ‘trigger’ event that he vowed would not happen again to the people of Bayawan City. A licensed engineer, the former municipal councilor and vice mayor of the then municipality of Bayawan3 knew that the long term and permanent solution to Bayawan’s perennial flooding and landslides was to “get into the heart and root cause of the problem” --- its widely denuded forest cover. Mayor Sarana realises that the cost of devastation due to flash floods, landslides and siltation to the people of Bayawan and its resources was too much a burden to carry every year more so with the expected local effects of global warming and climate change. The LGU through the leadership of Mayor Sarana decided that this situation has to be addressed “directly and squarely”.

Bayawan City is a 3rd class4 component city of the province of Oriental Negros, Philippines. Located around 101 kilometers from the provincial capital Dumaguete City and near the provincial

2 This case study was largely facilitated by existing information and materials from the Bayawan City Forest Land Use Plan Final Report and the Bayawan City Co-Management Resource Management Plan. 3 Bayawan City formally became a city on 30 December 2000 with Mayor Ernesto T. Tijing as its first city mayor. Mayor Sarana is Bayawan’s second city mayor. 4 Under Republic Act 7160 or the new Local Government Code, cities are classified according to average annual income based on the previous 3 calendar years: 1st class - P300 million or more, 2nd class - P240 million or more but less than P 300 million, 3rd class - P180 million or more but less than P240 million, 4th class - P120 million or more but less than P180 million, 5th class - P60 million or more but less than P120 million, and 6th class - Below P 60 million.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) border with Negros Occidental, Bayawan is a coastal city with a land area of 699 km² or 69,900 hectares, the largest in the whole Central Visayas region and accounts for 13% of the province’s land area. The coastline is 15 km west to east, with 7 coastal barangays.

Based on the 2000 census, it has a population of 101,391 people (with an average annual growth rate of 2.59%) in 19,967 households. Twenty one (21%) per cent or 21,814 of the total population comprises the urban population. Population density is 146/km², which is manageable compared to other cities in the country. However, within the next ten years it is estimated that the population will reach 121,175 with an annual average growth rate of 2.9%, concentrated in the urban and sub-urban areas. The transformation of Bayawan into a city is deemed to bring rapid urbanization and inflow of commerce, trade and industry. This translates into tremendous pressure on the central district's social, economic and environmental systems in the near years.

Bayawan City is subdivided into three development zones, namely – urban, sub-urban and rural areas.

• The urban area constitutes only 2.3% (15.73 km²) of the city's total area and contains the main institutional, commercial and central business district of the city. It functions as the main economic hub, while economic growth nodes are established in strategically located barangays in the hinterlands.

• The sub-urban area is about 14.7% (102.6 km²) of the total area and is set to contain the agro-industrial zones, industrial zones and human settlements. The existing industrial activity (lime plant), the establishment of saw mills, and the identified industrial zones in the area show

Map Source: www.wikipedia.com the natural pattern of development.

• The rural area accounts for 83.1% of the total land area and is basically agricultural. However, some barangays are identified to contain a high level of commerce, trade and agro-processing industry being the economic growth nodes of the city. These growth nodes are singled out due to their strategic geographic location while other rural barangays are mainly agricultural production areas.

Despite its status as a city, Bayawan’s economy remains largely agricultural arising from its vast agricultural lands. Almost 67% or 46,700 hectares of Bayawan’s land area is devoted to agriculture with 13.5% or 9,500 hectares to agroforestry and another 13.5% or 9,500 hectares are forestlands. The total built-up area only covers some 2,200 hectares or a little more than 3% of Bayawan’s land area.

Consequently, revenues from land farming, livestock production, aqua-culture activities and marine fishing are the city’s major source of income. In 2000, the City Agriculture Office (CAO) estimated that the total value of agricultural production reached PhP 2.3 Billion; 91.4% of which came from crop production, 7.9% from livestock production, and 0.7% from fisheries. Its agricultural production significantly contributes to the over-all agricultural production for the whole province of Negros Oriental.

Major crops grown in the area are sugarcane (7,247 ha.), corn (4,119 ha.), rice (2,789 ha.),

coffee (702 ha.) and coconut (680 ha.). Aside from major crops, banana, peanut, mango, sili, lansones, calamansi, cassava and bisol are also grown in the area. Typical farm sizes are between 1.0-1.5 hectares.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) However, despite its vast agricultural lands and status as a 3rd class city, local income

generated by the city remains very low. Local revenue collection from real property taxes, business permits, fees and other charges is only around 15% of its total income. The city remains dependent on national government downloads of internal revenue allotment (IRA) for 85% of all its income (See Table 1.0).

This is largely attributed to the low productivity of Bayawan’s agricultural lands due to the effects of soil erosion, landslides and siltation on its vast agricultural lands. In fact, Mayor Sarana states that only a little more than half or PhP 8 million of the total PhP 15 million assessed real property taxes of Bayawan is being collected by the LGU because of the low income of local farmers.

Table 1.0 Bayawan’s local revenue and income sources and expenditures (2000-2007)

LGU Income Sources (PhP in thousands)

Fiscal Year Total Income (PhP in thousands)

IRA

Local Revenue

Total Expenditures (PhP in thousands)

2000 64,937 57,678 7,239 82,501 2003 315,811 301,637 14,174 207,776 2004 318,492 301,683 16,809 203,233 2005 339,376 321,704 17,672 309,339 2006 374,437 354,170 20,267 318,698 2007 458,830 390,940 22,199 428,714

Source: Bayawan City Planning and Development Office (CPDO).

The most common source of livelihood is farming. The estimated average annual income is Php24, 000 or US$533 (at US$1=PhP45) per year (FLUP, 2004). Most people are engaged in farming, fishing, trading or buy & sell activities while resident professionals are often forced to migrate to other areas due to limited non-farm employment opportunities. B. Bayawan’s Forest Land Use Planning and Management Strategy

1.0 Addressing local and global concerns on climate change

Bayawan City has approximately 20,245 ha of lands classified as forestlands (See Fig 1: Land Classification Map). Out of these, around 5,811 ha are considered tenured or officially and legally allocated to individuals and communities by virtue of various kinds of tenurial instruments issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

These include Certificates of Stewardship Contract (CSCs) for individual farmers/occupant; Community Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) for communities thru Peoples Organization; Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) for individual or group investors; and, Certificates of Ancestral domain claim (CADCs) for indigenous people organization. The remaining 14,434 ha are not covered with any form of tenurial instrument and are

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) considered untenured or ‘open access’5 (See Table 2.0).

Source: FLUP, 2004

Table 2. Allocated Forestlands, in hectares ( Bayawan City, 2003)Total

Population TOTAL CSC CBFMA IFMA CADC

1 Ali-is 3,547 2 - - - - - 2

2 Banaybanay 3,307 1,154 - - - - - 1,154 3 Banga 4,190 60 6 6 - - - 53

4 Bugay 4,072 819 653 653 - - - 166

5 Dawis 4,966 1,142 - - - - - 1,142 6 Kalamtukan 3,732 3,679 352 352 - - - 3,327

7 Kalumboyan 6,971 1,212 681 681 - - - 532

8 Malabugas 4,180 233 43 43 - - - 190 9 Manduao 3,661 3 - - - - - 3

10 Minaba 2,977 795 364 125 238 - - 432

11 Nangka 8,734 1,661 839 822 17 - - 821

12 Pagatban 1,450 120 120 53 67 - -

13 San Jose 1,580 14 - - - - - 14

14 San Miguel 1,593 486 422 288 133 - 65

15 San Roque 1,773 642 98 98 - - - 545

16 Tabuan 4,849 4 - - - - - 4

17 Tayawan 4,849 4,981 2,133 438 500 850 345 2,847

18 Villasol 2,768 3,238 100 100 3,138

TOTAL 101,391 20,245 5,811 3,560 855 1,050 345 14,434 % of total 100 29 18 4 5 2 71

ALLOCATED FORESTLANDS (ha) Total Forest-lands

Open access areas

BARANGAY

In the Philippines, the issuance of tenurial instruments are important forestland management

mechanisms given to either individuals, communities or private groups and corporations in order to ensure the protection and maintenance of public forestlands. This is based on the premise that effective on-site management can only happen if an area is officially allocated by the state to responsible resource managers who in turn can be motivated to invest long term sustainable interventions when they have security of tenure of the land they managed.

The open access areas or unallocated forestlands that are placed under the direct management of the City Government of Bayawan comprised about 71% of the total forestlands of Bayawan City (14,434 out of 20,245 ha). Distributed in eighteen (18) barangays, the largest areas are found in barangay Kalamtukan, followed by Villasol, Tayawan, Banaybanay and Dawis. The smallest areas on the other hand, are in Aliis, Manduao, Tabuan, San Jose and Banga.

Significant forest cover had been removed in both uplands and lowlands. A forest land survey and inventory conducted by the LGU in 2003 during the formulation its forest land use plan (FLUP) showed that the remaining forest cover in Bayawan was roughly 15% (2,937.20 hectares) only of the

5 Open access areas are parts of forestlands that have not been allocated for a certain use or tenure arrangement. Anybody therefore has access to resources within it. The existence of open access areas invites intruders to cut the remaining forest stand, to convert forested areas into slash-and-burn farms, and to overexploit forest resources. Tenured or allocated forestlands that are “abandoned” or not managed in accordance with agreed uses or management plans by the current holders of tenure/allocation instruments are likewise considered as under open access conditions

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) total forestland. The remaining areas of forestlands or around 85% are being illegally used for residential or agricultural use or just left as brushlands and grasslands (FLUP,2004).

Large portions of the city’s land area that are supposedly classified as forestlands are

cultivated and unsuitably used. This situation can be attributed to the improper settling and farming practices of the people in the hinterlands. There are uncontrolled and unmonitored conversions of classified forestlands through slash and burn practices, then cultivation by the people in all parts of the upland barangays to subsistence crops like corn and rice that are easily eroded and washed out during the rainy season. Such practices create the conditions for the significant loss of soil cover and the regular occurrence of landslides, siltation and flashfloods in Bayawan.

It is no wonder that the large majority of Bayawan’s local farmers, especially those in its

upland barangays, are among the poorest of the poor in the city. In the forest land use planning study conducted in 2003, average household income marks at less than PhP 2,000.00 per month which is way below poverty levels. There is high dependency on annual cash crops (sugarcane) and subsistence farming of rice and corn. Moreover, there is high disparity of land claims within timberlands, and capitalist/leasers of sugar land areas have exhaustive farming practices of the land resources. All these are further aggravated by the absence of tenure security among the farmlands that discourages long term investments and sustainable management; and thus, tax payments and local revenues are at a low(FLUP,2004).

.The haphazard conversion and cultivation of the forestlands and denudation of the forest cover have resulted to the perennial problem of flooding in both upland and lowland barangays during rainy season. Its adverse effects include the severe siltation of the three rivers in the city and loss of soil fertility in the hinterlands due to soil erosion and landslides. In addition, some springs has become intermittent (no water flowing during dry season) because of the destruction of their watersheds.

2.0 Bayawan’s Forest Land Use Management Strategy

Mayor Sarana knew that for his young city to grow and develop to its full potential, Bayawan needs to address the impact of forest denudation and upland degradation in order to improve local agricultural productivity, increased farmers’ income and spur local economic activity. According to Mayor Sarana once the local people have increased their income and productivity then he can collect more taxes. The three-term mayor knows that he cannot fully collect taxes, especially real property taxes, from his farmers and poor landowners if local farm productivity remains low.

He also knew that dealing and addressing the years of degradation and neglect of Bayawan’s forestlands and uplands has no quick solutions nor can it be done through a shotgun approach. To effectively address and sustainably respond to the challenges of rehabilitating and recovering Bayawan’s denuded and degraded forestlands entails both vision and patience. This approach must be systematic, deliberate, technically-sound and socially-acceptable to all stakeholders of the city. This was the premises of Bayawan’s forest land use planning and management strategy.

The Bayawan city forest and land use plan (FLUP) was formulated with the highest priority accorded to protection land uses in all aspects of land management. Its aims were the following: a) protection of critical ecosystems and biodiversity from further human activities; b) rehabilitation of degraded land resources; and c) protection of the people from future environmental hazards. Once completed and approved, it was envisioned that the forestland communities will have security of tenure to encourage their long-term investment in sustainable upland farming.

The LGU started in 2004 an intensified program of forest rehabilitation and protection following the formulation and implementation of its Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP) with technical assistance of the Philippine Environmental Governance Project (EcoGov), funded by the United States Agency for International Development and supported by the Philippines’ Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Interior and Local Government.

The FLUP process started on May 2003, with formation of the members of the City Technical

Working Group (CTWG) and the City Planning and Development Coordinator (CPDO) and the

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) preparation of an action plan for the different FLUP activities that included the creation of barangay technical working groups (BTWG) that could assist CTWG in the FLUP activities and ensure greater participation of stakeholders. Over the next six months, series of seminar workshop, information dissemination, community profiling surveys, mapping, stakeholder identification and analysis, map overlaying and analysis, discussions and consultations were made by the CTWG and subsequently delivered to the people in the barangay as echoed through the several BTWG.

Community mapping activities that were simultaneously conducted with community profiling activities produced local community profiles, data sets, community resource and land use maps they served as critical inputs to the preparation of the FLUP and validated by local community groups. Knowledge of key informants in the barangay and other stakeholders were sought to map out the indicative location of the bio-physical profile of the barangay including infrastructure and other important information relevant to the FLUP.

Source: EcoGov, 2006.

Outputs from the various data and information gathering activities (i.e. community profiling, surveys and mapping) such as barangay profiles, data sets, community resource and land use maps were validated in the barangays to ensure that the generated baseline information are true depictions of current community scenario. These validated baseline information sets were then used as one of the prime bases of the plan. Other data sets used as basis for the resource use analysis came from official land classification map and tenure map and listing obtained from the DENR.

To facilitate the preparation and necessary analysis for the FLUP, the LGU of Bayawan City

assigned the City Planning and Development Office as the Secretariat and LGU department in-charge for the FLUP’s needs in coordination and operations in research, analysis and planning process. Staffs from the socio-economic section were assigned, composed of statistician, development management officer, cartographers, project coordinators, and researchers. The EcoGov provided technical specialists and consultants for the FLUP process. An FLUP team was formed, organized, and carried out the action plan.

On December 2, 2003, the final draft of the Forest Land Use Plan and the maps were

presented and endorsed by the City Development Council, a local multi-sectoral group chaired by the City Mayor and composed of members from the various barangays, private sector, community and people’s organisations and representatives from both the local council, national and provincial and city LGU agencies and offices. Subsequently, Bayawan’s FLUP has City Council Resolution No. 675 passed on December 2003 legitimized the FLUP. A joint implementation MOA with DENR was signed in 2004 for the rehabilitation protection and management of forest lands (SP Resolution 323).

The activity flow (see Fig. 2) outlines the process that the Bayawan City Forest Land Use Planning went through in seven months of planning.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY)

Training &

Orientation

Organize committees: social preparation community profiling community mapping Prepare Plans General work plan detailed action plans for IEC, community profiling, community mapping, and thematic maps preparation

IEC

Community Profiling

Community Profiles

SituationAnalysis Community

Mapping Watershed

Profiles

Thematic Maps

Analytical Maps

Brgy. Validation

Proposed FLUP

Consensus Build-up

Preliminary Allocation

LEGITIMIZATION

Figure 2. Forest Land Use Planning Activity Flow

3.0 Consensus-building and direct involvement of local community members in the whole planning process Throughout the whole FLUP process, consensus-building and direct involvement of local stakeholders, especially from the affected barangays and communities of the city, was a critical component of the process. This was to ensure local “ownership” and “buy-ins” by all the critical actors in both the community and local leadership. Even at the start of the information and education campaign for the Forest Land Use Plan, local barangay meetings or “pulong-pulongs” and consultations were conducted in the city’s twenty eight barangays with a total participation of 1,397 individuals.

A significant output of this information and education campaign was the creation of Barangay Technical Working Groups (BTWGs) in the respective barangays and the gathered commitment of barangay officials to support the program. The BTWG facilitated coordination and discussion of the various information and data gathering, formulation, community mapping, profiling and planning activities among community members in each barangay. Initial positive support and responses from the stakeholder constituents were also noted along with their concerns regarding the project. To complement the pulong-pulong strategy used in the IEC activity, the LGU had a weekly radio program called “Bayawan City in Focus” in order to regularly inform and educate local residents on the relevance and importance of the FLUP process. Members of the FLUP-CTWG and other LGU officials involved in the FLUP process served as resource persons in the radio program to convey to the people the FLUP process, its significance and timeliness for the future welfare of the city. In addition to the radio programs, leaflets containing material on educating the people about the FLUP process were also produced and distributed all over the city.

All 28-barangay BTWG were involved in a series of validation meetings to verify key information in the thematic maps. Results and observations during the previous community mapping exercises were partly used to validate the derived composite maps. The FLUP technical working groups and subsequent revisions subjected the initial thematic maps to series of reviews and validations before they are finalised. Suggestions and improvements on the thematic and derived maps were then incorporated in subsequent versions of thematic and derived maps. The FLUP-CTWG drafted the plan and prepared them for public consultation.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) 4.0 Watersheds as the basis for forest land use planning

The FLUP methodology employed the watersheds as planning units6. This is to break down the city into manageable units which has defined boundaries (mountain ridges), distinct set of interdependent and interactive physical, climatic, biological and social components. In this way, comparative analysis and prioritization ranking are more systematic. The six identified watersheds were the, Bayawan River Watershed, Pagatban River Watershed, Sicopong River Watershed, Ilog River Watershed, Camayaan River Watershed and Nalundan-Tab-ang River Watershed.

The delineated watersheds and sub-watersheds, whether proclaimed or not were used as the

bases in planning and analysis. A composite map was prepared showing the forest lands which have to be allocated, allocated forest lands under all kinds of proclamations and tenure, forest lands which have or are expected to under conflicts, and forest lands which need immediate protection and rehabilitation.

As part of the process of prioritizing investments among the six watersheds, the FLUP Technical Working Group (TWG) and the LGU developed a set of criteria for evaluating and ranking the different watersheds through a participatory and consensus building approach. The watershed ranking provided a basis in recommending action for the line agencies, particularly DENR in their annual planning and budgeting or to other funding agencies or for local sources allocation in support of effective watershed management and environmental rehabilitation and protection in Bayawan City.

Moreover, the watershed ranking which resulted from prioritization provided the rallying points for the LGU to focus their protection of lives and properties, protection of hydrological values, protection of infrastructure investments, protection of economic values, protection of bio-diversity and protection of aesthetic values. The criteria and weights used in prioritizing the watersheds were as follows:

• Protection of lives and properties (indicator: population of lowland communities/ settlements, crops and livestock – 21%

• Hydrological services (indicator: water for generation, irrigation, aquifer recharge, domestic needs, etc.) – 19%

• Economic value (indicator: contribution of food and fiber production (existing and potential production areas in forest and forestlands and A&D areas) – 18%

• Protection of infrastructure Investments (indicator: extent of roads, presence of bridges and other major infrastructure - 18%

• Biodiversity (indicator: extent of natural forest cover (old growth, mossy, residual, mangroves), existence of rare and endangered species,) – 13%

• Aesthetic values for nature-based destination/ tourism attractions – 11% Based on the prioritization process of the six watersheds in the city, it came out that Bayawan River Watershed is the priority for investment and management. During the analysis of the watersheds, it was found out that there are several sub-watersheds within this major watershed which need immediate investment. This was unanimously approved by the CTWG, BTWGs, CDC, and stakeholders to put the Bayawan River Watershed and its various sub-watersheds in top priority for investment and management including Camayaan, Nalundan, Pagatban, Ilog, and Sicopong.

6 In FLUP, the watershed is used as planning unit since a) it has clearly defined boundaries (mountain ridges); b) it has a distinct set of interdependent and interactive physical, climatic, biological and social components; c) it highlights upland-lowland-coastal interaction; d) it allows the disaggregation of larger watersheds into smaller sub-watersheds; and e) water can be used as an indicator of the impacts of land use. Being a planning unit, it is necessary to determine the land and water resources, and other geographic data relevant to FLUP so that there is factual and objective bases in identifying in which watershed needs the utmost management strategy and investment.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) 5.0 Co-management: local government and community taking charge of sustainably managing Bayawan’s forestlands.

Consistent with its approved Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP), Bayawan City entered a

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on 08 June 2004 with the DENR (DENR-Region 7) to co-manage all of the city’s 14,434 ha of untenured or open access forestlands. The co-management gave to Bayawan direct responsibility to manage its unallocated forestlands as well as oversee the proper management of existing management regimes in allocated forestlands. In effect, Bayawan took full control over the responsibility and accountability over the management of its entire 20,000 hectares of forestlands utilising various modes of tenure and management arrangements that ensured its sustainable development, utilisation and protection.

In the course of its two year implementation, the LGU has allocated more than sufficient funds

for the implementation of identified FLUP activities and has committed to allocate funds for the incoming years. The LGU also created a local steering committee that was primarily responsible for carrying out the implementation of the FLUP and the co-management resource management plan (RMP). Chaired by the Mayor and co-chaired by the DENR-CENRO, the LSC was composed of representatives of the Committee on Environment of the Sanggunian Panglungsod, City ENRO, City Agriculturist, City Engineer, City Assessor, City Planning and Development Office, City Public Safety Officer and PNP, concerned barangay captains, representative of the farmers and fisher folk. (See Figure 3)

The LGU also created a separate forest management unit (FMU) that shall oversee the

implementation of the FLUP as well as coordinate all barangay-level activities in forest protection and law enforcement, farms management, and management of all sub-allocated lands within co-management areas. Likewise, all other departmental offices in the LGU such as the city agriculturist, legal office, engineer, city planning, public safety offices were mobilised and given specific roles and responsibilities in the course of the LGU’s implementation of its FLUP and co-management arrangements.

Fig. 3: Organisational structure of Bayawan Co-management Local Steering Committee (LSC)

STEERING COMMITTEE

FOREST MANAGEMENT

UNIT

City Planning and Dev’t Office

City ENRO- Coordinator

BENROs

Technical Advisory

Group DENR PLGU-ENRD DA NIA DILG DOT PNP

City Legal Office

City Agriculturist

BENROs BENROs Public Safety Office/ Phil Nat’l Police

City Engineering

Office

City Information

Office

FLUP-SC Secretariat

City Tourism Office

City Assessor Office

Source: Co-Management Resource Plan, 2006

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) 6.0 Continued resources allocation

Bayawan’s commitment to supporting and achieving the goals and objectives identified in its FLUP was clear seen with the sustained regular annual appropriations allocated by the LGU to environment and natural resources services (See Table 3.0). Over the last five years, Bayawan has poured a total of PhP 145 million or US$ 3.22 million (as US$1=PhP45) or an average annual appropriations of almost PhP 29 million or US$645,000 for environmental and natural resources services starting 2004. Since the start of the FLUP’s implementation in 2004, Bayawan has continuously allocated almost 100% of the total funding requirements needed for the implementation of FLUP activities as identified in its 5-year implementation plan totaling PhP 36.370 million or around US$ 808,222 (See Table 4.0).

Additional funds and activities were also mobilised through other LGU line agencies that provided direct support services and resources to FLUP-related and environment-related activities such as infrastructure (i.e. construction of farm-to-market roads and flood control/drainage systems), agriculture (i.e. coastal resource management and mangrove rehabilitation), disaster (i.e. disaster risk mitigation and preparation), education and health services, among others.

Table 3.0 Annual Budget Allocations for Different LGU Services (2004-2008)

LGU Services FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008

Health 33,289,131 24,334,031 26,727,540 24,370,247 29,476,947

Education 14,170,529 9,003,967 11,486,874 8,219,443 7,897,273

Environmental/Natural Resources

21,239,648 30,532,994 28,850,975 36,917,919 27,494,585

Infrastructures 175,334,262 209,511,768 69,464,049 90,532,879 41,440,785

Agriculture 29,800,356 22,736,181 22,884,073 33,997,525 29,986,283

Disaster 19,188,510 17,083,282 16,778,782 20,540,364 20,511,627

Other Services 247,491,825 210,540,782 243,452,068 322,499,552 278,798,232

Total LGU Budget 540,514,264 523,743,010 419,626,364 537,077,930 435,605,732 Source: City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CityENRO)

Photo Courtesy of Bayawan Forest Management Unit (FMU).

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) Table 4.0 Estimated 5-year budget FLUP implementation plan

5-YEAR COST Yr1 Yr2 Yr3 Yr4 Yr5

15,860 4,900 3,900 3,270 2,100 1,690 A. 14,970 4,700 3,550 3,020 2,100 1,600 1. 8,700 2,700 2,000 1,500 1,500 1,000

2. 6,200 2,000 1,500 1,500 600 600 3. 70 50 20 - B. 890 200 350 250 90 1 300 100 100 100 - 2 490 100 200 100 90

3 100 50 50 - 8,070 1,100 2,200 1,700 1,550 1,520

A. 2,000 1,000 1,000 - - - B. Management of Farmlands 5,500 1,000 1,500 1,500 1,500 C. Management of Settlements 420 100 150 100 50 20 D. Management of Special Uses 150 50 100

50 20 20 10 A. 50 20 20 10

23,980 6,020 6,120 4,980 3,650 3,210

1 270 60 60 50 50 50 2 10,900 2,000 2,100 2,200 2,300 2,300 3 170 50 50 50 20 4 The Public Safety Office (PSO)/pnp 250 50 50 50 50 50 5 400 100 100 100 100 - 6 250 50 50 50 50 50 7 150 70 80

12,390 2,330 2,490 2,500 2,600 2,470 36,370 8,350 8,610 7,480 6,250 5,680

STRATEGIES

Strategic Objective #1:Conservation of Waters and WatershedsEstablishment of community water production areasRehabilitation of degraded watershedsRegulation of water usesManagement of Forest-Based LivelihoodsEstablishment of wood production areasEstablishment and management of protection forestsEstablishment of ecotourism areas

Strategic Objective #2:Sub-allocation of Forestlands

Strategic Objective #3:Regulation of Quarries and Other Mining

Sub-total Operations CostPlan Administration

The Steering Committee (SCom)The Forest Management Unit (FMU)

Total Plan Implementation Cost

The City ENR Council

Sub-total Administrative Cost

Capability Building ActivitiesRegulation and Enforcement ActivitiesEquipment and Tools (ie computer, GPS, camera, measuring tools, handheld radio)

(Source: Co-management Resource Management Plan, 2006) 7.0 Linkage of FLUP to other environmental and local development plans Finally, the effectivity of Bayawan’s FLUP was its link and integration to other LGU development plans. This include the city’s comprehensive land use plan (CLUP) revised in 2006, solid waste management plan (SWM) completed in 2004 , revised 2008 coastal resource management and development plan (CRMDP), and disaster and sanitation/drainage plan and infrastructure development plan completed in 2005. The FLUP will also serve as a critical input to the preparation of the city’s climate change mitigation plan starting 20087.

C. Benefits and Impacts After 3 years of implementation, the impacts and benefits of Bayawan’s FLUP and co-

management resource plan is not yet expected to lead to specific economic benefits or quantifiable changes in both the bio-physical conditions of Bayawan’s forestlands or economic conditions of local farmers. . To date more than 500 households (HH) have directly benefitted from these projects and another 2,000 households (HH) are potential beneficiaries in the next five years of the implementation of the FLUP.

7 Mayor Sarana was instrumental in the formation of the Negros Oriental Advisory Council on Climate Change and was the main proponent of the Negros Island-wide Summit on Climate Change conducted last May 2008 in Dumaguete City.

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) However, what is clear from the initial 3 years of the FLUP’s implementation are some

physical, institutional, social and organisational results that are indicators of future benefits and impacts to both communities and local government unit (LGU) such as the following:

• Established 134,000 linear meters of riverbank protection lines representing 78% of riverbank areas needing vegetative protection. The LGU provided monetary incentive to local community members who were given the task of maintenance of the vegetation on the riverbanks;

• Establishment of more than 14,000 linear meters or 14 km of 10-meter-wide firelines

using broadleaf plant species covering around 40 hectares of grasslands in Barangay Kalamtukan in the Bayawan River watershed area. About 90% of the established protection line is reported to be adequately maintained (CityENRO, 2006).

• Local policies on water production area (WPA) for 17 barangays within the forestlands

were formulated. The LGU provided financial assistance to the barangays for WPA formulation and 63 hectares of identified WPAs have been planted with around 75,477 assorted seedlings of fruit and forest trees;

• Establishment of 5 LGU-managed tree nurseries and 15 other nurseries managed by the

Department of Agriculture for rubber, coffee, fruit trees and other agro-forestry seedlings that are given free to local farmers. These nurseries provided savings to the LGU instead of procuring them from outside sources;

• Diversification of traditional farms crops into jatropha (100 hectares) and rubber

plantation (378 hectares). The LGU intends to plant 400 hectares of jatropha by 2008 and invest in a PhP 3.0 million processing plant that would be able to produce 1.0 million liters/day of clean fuel for the LGU. The LGU intends to purchase all the production of the plant for the fuel needs of the LGU amounting to PhP 2.0 million/year. The LGU shall establish a corporation for the jatropha processing plant that would be owned by farmer-cooperators. In the case of rubber plantation, local farmers with less than 2 hectares of farm land8 shall be provided subsidies for rubber seedlings at PhP 30/seedling under a plant-now/pay later programme. Farmers-cooperators will be organised into a cooperative and shall be hired by LGU as employees during the gestation period of their rubber trees and will be provided technical knowhow and inputs by the LGU on proper rubber plantation maintenance and management. Upon completion of payment of the farmer’s loan, paid through shares in their farm’s rubber harvest, the rubber plantation reverts to the farmer-cooperators.

• Some 96 barangay environment and natural resources officers (BENROs) have been

deputized to enforce forestry laws. They are at the forefront in the surveillance and apprehension of illegal loggers. In 2007 alone, some 2,750 board feet of illegally cut and sawn Gmelina and dipterocarp lumber have been confiscated as a result of BENRO vigilance. Local ordinances for the protection and preservation of natural forest were also enacted to further strengthen community and barangay level enforcement of forestry and environmental laws;

• More than 220 kilometers of forestline have been delineated and monumented in the city’s

20, 245 hectares of forestlands. The forestline delineation shall help strengthen the enforcement of forest laws as well as facilitate resolution of conflicting land tenure claims in these areas.

8 The average farm size in Bayawan is 1-1.5 hectares based on the 2003 forest land use plan survey. (FLUP,2004)

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) • Individual property rights9 in the form of Agroforestry Management Agreements (AMA)

have been given to 17 farmers with a total of 46 hectares of forestlands. The AMA along with other forms of tenurial instruments such as farming licenses, agroforestry agreement, investment agreements and other forms of sub-agreements that will provide security of tenure to various forestland users, actual occupants and other investors as well as rights to peacefully utilize the forestlands in accordance with the FLUP. The IPRs also allows the city government to specify appropriate management prescriptions to the qualified beneficiary. The provision of IPR is intended to: a) encourage sound management of forestlands by respective IPR holders, b) provide a system of incentives and disincentives to pave the way for long term private and public investments and c) remove uncertainties associated with the absence of tenurial security of forestland occupants. The beneficiaries are prohibited from disposing of the land as they only serve as stewards. The IPR is a 25-year renewable co-management agreement with the city government and the DENR, who will monitor and support their efforts to develop the land.

D. Sustainability

1.0 Use of LGU’s own funds to sustain FLUP implementation. The sustainability of the Bayawan’s FLUP implementation is well-established in the form of the various ordinances and continuous budgetary allocation approved by the LGU over the last 3 years of the plan’s implementation. Bayawan has been solely funding the implementation of its FLUP with limited funding assistance from donor agencies or national government agencies.

2.0 Institutionalisation of FLUP implementing mechanisms and structures. The institutionalisation of the FMU within the city government’s structure would also ensure the implementation of the FLUP and its other activities. Likewise, the mobilisation of local community structures such as barangay environment and resource officers, barangay technical working groups, local cooperatives and farmers associations make sure that initiatives identified in the FLUP are sustained.

3.0 Community ownership and strong political leadership. Most importantly, the FLUP is owned by the people of Bayawan through a strict consultation and participatory process that led to its formulation and overwhelming approval by majority of the constituencies of Bayawan. The FLUP also enjoys strong support from local community members and its political leaders who actively and directly participated not only in the formulation of the FLUP but more so in its implementation.

4.0 Integration of FLUP in local community development agenda and vision. Finally, the FLUP process and its implementation shall be continued because of its integration to the city’s over-all development agenda and plans, including its comprehensive development plan, disaster management plans, and climate change mitigation plan, among others.

E. Replicability

Bayawan’s FLUP process has been replicated and conducted in other LGUs in the country especially those assisted by the USAID’s EcoGov project. In Negros Oriental province along another 5 LGUs are being assisted by the EcoGov Project and are in different stages of their FLUPs. The DENR has issued a Department Administrative Order (DAO) requiring the preparation and formulation of forest land use plans (FLUPs) in all forestlands.

9 The issuance of the tenurial instruments in the form of sub-agreements such as IPRs to various forestlands users, actual occupants, and other investors is aimed at igniting the occupant’s interest in protecting remaining natural forests while developing bare forest lands and grasslands to become productive

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(NOT FOR ATTRIBUTION; FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY) F. References a. Documents and Reports Bayawan City Profile 2008. City Planning and Development Office, 2008, pp.18. Bayawan Co-Management Resource Plan, (2006). City of Bayawan, July 2006, pp.38. Bayawan Forest Land Use Plan (Final Report), (2004). City of Bayawan, 2004, pp.89. EcoGov Project Technical Assistance Forests and Forest Lands Management, 2007 (PowerPoint presentation). City of Bayawan, December 2007. Bayawan City Forest Land Use Plan Implementation Year-End Report (2006). City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CityENRO)-Forest Management Unit (FMU), Bayawan City, pp.5. Bayawan City Forest Land Use Plan Implementation Annual Report (2005). City Environment and Natural Resources Office-Forest Management Unit (FMU), Bayawan City, pp. 3. “Farmers Get Property Rights in Bayawan City’s Forestlands” (Bullet Report), n.d. “Bayawan City: Cleanest and Greenest Urbanizing Locale”, (news bulleting), Philippine EcoGovernance Project 2, October 2007, pp.2. Bayawan City Tenure Assessment Report. No author, no date. b. Interviews: Hon. German P. Sarana, Jr. - City Mayor, Bayawan City Mr. Joel Baterna – OIC, City Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CityENRO), Bayawan City Mr. Cornelio Morallo – City Agriculture Officer, Bayawan City Ms. Jennylyn Norico – City Planning and Development Office, Bayawan City Ms. Margie Tuale – City Planning and Development Office, Bayawan City Mr. Ion Pollos – Solid Waste Management Coordinator, CityENRO, Bayawan City Mr. Fidel Vicente – Field Coordinator, EcoGov Project, Bayawan City c. On-line sources: www.bayawancity.gov.phwww.wikipedia.comwww.ecogov.org.phwww.denr.gov.ph

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