Philippines

New Options for Land Rehabilitation and Landscape Ecology in Southeast Asia by "Rainforestation Farming"

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The authors describe a methodology for reforestation called "Rainforestation Farming" developed in the Philippines in the 1990s to restore forest cover on degraded lands covered with Imperata cylindrica grass in the Visayas region

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Assisted Natural Regeneration: Methods, Results and Issues Relevant to Sustained Participation by Communities

Background

This article describes forest restoration in Kandis village on Palawan Island, Philippines, an  assisted natural regeneration (ANR) project, and focuses on the social issues that affect success of ANR projects.

research goals & methods

The ANR approached used includes fire prevention, ring-weeding, and flattening of grasses.

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Manual of Reforestation and Erosion Control for the Philippines

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This manual provides a detailed guide to reforestation, including information about species selection, nursery techniques, site preparation and plantation design, weed and fire control, stand improvement and other practical aspects of establishing and managing tree plantations. Additionally, there is a large portion devoted to erosion control, using trees and engineered structures to stabilize slopes and decrease the velocity of water runoff.

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Institutional Issues and Political Challenges in Scaling Up Agroforestry: The Case of Landcare in the Philippines

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This paper presents the results of case studies of four municipalities in the Philippines participating in the Landcare agroforestry program which benefited from differing levels of institutional, technical, and government support. The paper assesses how effectively the Landcare program was able to scale up based on differing levels of support.

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Growing agroforestry trees: Farmers’ experiences with individual and group nurseries in Claveria, Philippines

Background

In the 1990s, a Landcare movement formed in Claveria, South Philippines, establishing community nurseries for fruit and timber trees based on a growing interest in promoting agroforestry and soil conservation. Ten years after the formation of these nurseries, the authors interviewed growers about the successes and limitations of that effort.

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Variability and Grouping of Leaf Traits in Multi-Species Reforestation (Leyte, Philippines)

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Research on functional diversity is an important part in ongoing efforts to identify appropriate native tree species for reforestation projects. Increasing understanding of easy to measure physiological characteristics, such as specific leaf area, can help predict a variety of functional characteristics as well as growth perfromance.

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Tree Plantations in the Philippines and Thailand: Economic, Social, and Environmental Evaluation

Background

Tropical land area under plantations have dramatically increased in recent decades, largely as a result of natural forest depletion. Forest plantations cannot qualitatively substitute the timber or the habitat of natural forests, yet are growing in global importance both commercially and ecologically. However, the negative and positive social and environmental impacts must also be included in analysis of tropical forest plantations.

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Trees Commonly Cultivated in Southeast Asia: An Illustrated Field Guide

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This manual is an identification guide for the commonly-encountered trees of Southeast Asia. It provides botanical information for conifers, broad-leafed trees, bamboos, palms, and bananas.

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Seed Dispersal by Birds and Bats in Lowland Philippine Forest Successional Area

Background

While seed dispersal by birds and bats can be an important driver of succession, few studies have studied this dynamic in the tropical forests of SE Asia. This study compares the role of bird and bat dispersal in the lowland dipterocarp forest of the Subic Watershed Forest Reserve (SWFR) in Luzon Island, Philippines.

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Farm Forestry: An Alternative to Government-Driven Reforestation in the Philippines

Background

This study reviews literature and various case studies about growing trees at the farm level by rural farmers. In the Philippines, millions of dollars have gone to employ people to plant trees as part of reforestation programs while only about 10% of those planted areas are successful. The authors assert that paying people to plant trees is unsustainable and often hindered by the lack of prompt release of funding.

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