Restoring degraded forest ecosystems in the Philippines through Assisted Natural Regeneration
This year marks the successful completion of a five-year Regional Cooperation Project under AFoCO. The AFoCO Project entitled “Capacity Building on the Application of Landscape Approach to Support the Sustainable Natural Resources Management in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore” (AFoCO/011/2016 BIPS Project) was launched in 2016 in line with the Organization’s efforts to strengthen transboundary cooperation among the forestry sectors of Member Countries.
Under this project, the Philippines implemented an in-country project program on the “Restoration of Degraded Forest Ecosystem through Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR)”, which aimed to capacitate the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) technicians and practitioners as well as concerned stakeholders within the identified project area in implementing ANR technologies as a strategy for the restoration of the country’s degraded forestlands.
In partnership with the Malatapi Community Livelihood Center Incorporate (MCLCI), a community-based forest management People’s Organization, DENR facilitated the development of a 30-hectare demonstration plot in Central Luzon, which became the learning hub for restoration and rehabilitation strategies for natural forests.