The Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFOCO) will provide $1.12 million (P56 million) funding for pilot wood processing facilities in Agusan del Sur and Negros Oriental.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the sustainable forest management project is expected to create jobs and will spur new export-oriented industries producing furniture and veneer.
The project will tap unused wood from almost 4,000 hectares of community forest of which , 2,115 hectares are in Agusan del Sur and the remaining 1,932 hectares are in Negros Oriental.
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu said the wood processing plants will tap raw materials from community-based forest management (CBFM) areas which will raise the income and livelihood levels of people’s organizations in the host areas.
Participating farmer groups in the projects are the Nalundan United Farmers’ Association (NUFAI) in Bindoy, Negros Oriental and the Mindanao Timberland Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (MATILFAMCO) in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.
“The Philippines needs five million cubic meters of wood or lumber per year. Only one million is from the Philippines, the rest is imported. Those that come from the Philippines are from private forests and not from CBFM,” Cimatu said.
The DENR said at present, NUFAI and MATILFAMCO earn from round timber lumber of Acacia mangium and of Falcata due to the absence of wood processing plants.
The agency said lumber of Acasia mangium sells for P7 per board feet or P84 per 12-foot length while raw logs called export can be sold at P150,000 to P180,000 per 30 to 35 cubic meter-truck. Falcata logs called pulp are at P80,000 to P100,000 per 30 to 35 cubic meter truck.
DENR said the completion of the facility can increase the income of stakeholders by as much as 60 percent. Scrap materials can also be turned into packaging boxes for bananas and other fruits and vegetables.
Cimatu said the DENR will also push for the legislation of a forest law enforcement arm to come up with at least a 2,000-strong forest guard workforce. -J. Macapagal
