Source : INQ7.net, Philippines, 13 Sep '05
By : Blanche Rivera
  

WWF president Lorenzo Tan said the log ban imposed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in March has failed to curb illegal logging in supposedly protected areas.

Speaking at a briefing of the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, Tan showed a photo of logs floating down a river in the north Sierra Madre Natural Park.

“I don’t think the ban has made a difference. Even as we speak now, there is logging in protected areas like Sierra Madre,” Tan said when asked if he felt the DENR log ban has been effective.

He said the government would never be able to address the problem of illegal logging until it offers alternative livelihood opportunities to communities that have long depended on logging for a living.

Two weeks ago, the DENR confiscated 38,000 board feet of timber

worth P4.2 million in the town of Mauban, which the DENR has identified as the new center of logging operations in Quezon province.

Tan underscored the need for local government support for the log ban, which is effective in all 16 regions except Davao and Caraga in Mindanao, where logging is allowed for those with existing permits from the DENR.

“It’s very important that mayors and governors back the log ban. You can’t just say ‘logging is prohibited.’ You have to have... political will to do that,” Tan said.

PTCFC executive director Maria Paz Luna said the group, which is funding massive reforestation in the Philippines, has received reports that many local politicians were involved in illegal logging.

She said the communities knew these politicians who were condoning or even engaging in logging operations but few people were willing to come out against them for fear of reprisal.

“I’m warning all local politicians engaged in logging. You will not be in position forever. When you are no longer protected by your position, people would come out against you, so better stop what you’re doing now,” Luna said in a press briefing.

She said the PTFCF, which was launched last week, was building a network all over the country and a database of information on illegal logging activities, which could later be used to help the government crack down on illegal operators.

“We should stop depending just on the DENR to do this. The government has only one forester for every 4,000 hectares. You cannot expect them to stop logging,” Luna said.

The Philippines, which used to have 21 million hectares of forest in 1900 now has only 7.16 million hectares of forest left, which is less than the 40 percent forest cover required for ecological sustainability.

Of the 7.16 million hectares, only 800,000 hectares are considered old-growth forest. This could drop to 320,000 hectares in five years if logging remains unabated, the PTFCF said.

The DENR adopted its limited log ban policy in March following flash floods that killed hundreds and displaced thousands of families in Southern Luzon provinces last year. Massive deforestation has been blamed for the killer floods.