What drives the success of reforestation projects in tropical developing countries? The case of the Philippines

Background

This study reviewed cases and literatures to assess drivers that ultimately lead restoration projects to have successful outcomes. The main 4 categories of drivers are: technical/biophysical drivers, socio-economic drivers, institutional, policy and management drivers, and reforestation project characteristics. The major indicator of success are fall into two categories: environmental indicators and socio-economic indicators.

Goals & Methods

The main objectives of this study are to define ‘successful’ restoration projects by recognizing drivers and indicators and to identify the interaction between existing drivers, indicators and actual outcomes. The study also aimed to gain a deeper understanding on those questions in order to establish more feasible and guaranteed restoration designs in the future. The authors collected 43 ongoing and finished projects on Leyte Island. Data were divided into two category, such as a interview component and a field survey component. By using several statistical analyses, driver-indicator, indicator-indicator, and driver-driver relationships were tested.

Conclusions & Takeaways

The study found that it is critical to approach restoration projects based on systematical understanding on possible factors, drivers, and indicators in a certain case. By applying systemized restoration-complex design, it would be more viable to how those drivers would interact with local ‘situations’. According to the assessment of this study, revegetation method, funding source, education and awareness campaign, the dependence of local people on forest and road conditions were the most significant drivers of reforestation success.