Governance issues raised with privatized reforestation

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

GOVERNANCE questions have been raised regarding plans for private investors to take the lead in reforestation efforts.

Environmental advocates said they are alarmed by the potential for conflicts of interest in privately managed reforestation, as opposed to government-directed programs carried out by communities.

The profit motive could erode the imperative that future generations benefit from the earth’s resources, while also undermining the “equitable distribution of resources especially for indigenous communities,” Ateneo School of Government Jennifer S. Oreta said via Facebook Messenger.

“The private sector, by its very nature, is concerned with profit.  Return of investment is the immediate goal; profit maximization is the long-term goal,” she said.

“Profit-seeking on the one hand, and human rights-social justice on the other are fundamentally different concerns.”

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last week said it plans to open 1.2 million hectares of “denuded” forest land to private investors on June 26, shifting away from government-centric reforestation.

Undersecretary Carlos Primo David said the DENR is expecting half of the 1.2 million hectares to be reforested by the private sector under the National Greening Program (NGP). In 2024, the NGP had set a goal of rehabilitating 7.1 million hectares of denuded land by 2028.

“You need to reforest the half, and then you utilize the other half,” Mr. David said, noting that the previous purely conservation-focused approach has not worked.

“If you wait for the government to do reforestation of one million hectares… It will take us many years.”

Companies involved in agriculture and timber production as well as those involved in renewable energy, eco-tourism, and the carbon credit markets are expected to participate in the program, Mr. David said.

“In situations where a choice had to be made, will business choose the nobler agenda of conservation over profit?” Ms. Oreta asked.

“In areas where IP communities will be affected — not necessarily inside their ancestral domain, but in other traditional hunting grounds, or farming areas of IPs — will the IPs be forced out to pave the way for profit-seeking ventures?”

Asked whether private partners will need to obtain free, prior and informed consent, a prerequisite for building on indigenous land, Mr. David, who heads the DENR’s geospatial data office, said: “Half of the 1.2 million hectares is outside IP areas.”

“Since half of the target areas are in IP ancestral domain areas — in parts where mining companies are operating, who will manage the relations/conflict mitigation among IP communities, mining companies, and the business sector?” Ms. Oreta asked.

“Who will manage the social cost of the greening-business venture?  In areas where armed groups are operating, who will manage the security and safety of the various undertaking?”

Cleng Julve, secretary general of AGHAM, an association of scientists, said the government has not clearly defined what lands are classified as “denuded,” adding that which lands get classified as such can be swayed by corporate interests. 

“In practice, the ‘denuded’ label is often applied to productive lands cultivated by farmers or indigenous peoples,” she said.

“Such ambiguity puts these stakeholders at risk of displacement, especially when land is handed over to corporations under the guise of reforestation.”

Ms. Julve said previous projects claimed to be outside IP areas still “spilled over into IP areas, often accompanied by militarization to protect corporate interests.”

The DENR, which seeks to grow five million trees from non-invasive species by 2028, said in March that the national greening program had targeted the planting of 1.5 billion seedlings between 2011 and 2015.

“However, between 2011 and 2023, 1.8 billion seedlings had been planted,” it said. “Sadly, survivability was at best between 60% to 80%.”

Alyansa Tigil Mina said the DENR “deliberately neglects” its primary mandate of “conservation and restoration of our natural resources as required by the 1987 Constitution.”

“To give private and profit-driven corporations millions of hectares of forest land is a betrayal of this mandate,” it said via Viber, adding that the failure of the National Greening Program should not be used as a pretext for giving the private sector the lead.

Ms. Oreta said while the private sector can help in the greening program, “running the show must still remain with the government.”

She said the DENR must have a clearer, long-term conservation plan “that should be borne from consultations with affected communities, stakeholders, and concerned agencies.”

“The strategic plan should also have a broad appreciation on how this combination of “greening-and-business” plan, as proposed by the DENR, impacts the social, cultural, and security dynamics of localities,” she added.

Ms. Julve of AGHAM urged the DENR to focus on confronting “the real drivers of deforestation head-on,” citing large-scale mining, logging, and land use conversion. 

“Genuine forest restoration must be community-led, ecologically sound, and rooted in social and environmental justice,” she said.

“Instead of turning forests into business ventures, the government should support indigenous and local communities who have long protected these ecosystems.”

Mr. David of the DENR said the government will open another one million hectares of land every year until 2027.