Chapter 9

The Philippine Agenda 21 sets the broad framework for sustainable development in the country, that is, "the harmonious integration of a sound and viable economy, responsible governance, social cohesion and harmony, and ecological integrity to ensure that development is human development now and through future generations." This framework is anchored on the basic principle of collective choices and responsibility among different sectors of society and levels of governance.

In order for rural development initiatives to make a significant and lasting impression on the daily lives of all stakeholders, sustainability of development efforts must be ensured. A major component of sustainable development is physical sustainability, such that environmental or ecological integrity is safeguarded to support a high pace of growth in a modernized agriculture and fishery sector.

A low development carrying capacity of the natural environment, brought about by widespread natural resources degradation and worsening pollution, contributes to low agriculture and fishery production and thus, results in low income and high poverty in the country. The need, therefore, to preserve the integrity and carrying capacity of the natural resource environment in the process of development must be ensured.

The country posted gains in arresting resource depletion but at the cost of slowing down economic activities. Based on the Philippine Economic-Environmental and Natural Resource Accounting (PEENRA) System’s estimates, the growth rate of environmentally adjusted net domestic products (NDPs) has been higher than that of the unadjusted NDP (Table 9.1). This means that gains have been made in arresting the depletion and degradation of natural resources. This trend can be traced to the reduction in the utilization of municipal fishery, mining and forestry resources as suggested by the negative growth of these sector’s real output or gross value added (GVA) (Table 9.2). This, however, indicates that these sectors have not been contributing to development efforts and are expected to remain unproductive in the near future.

Moreover, the economic value of the country’s natural resources is on the downtrend due to:

(a) high deforestation rates;

(b) depletion of fishery resources;

(c) adjustment inefficiencies brought about by the partial devolution of the management of the environment and natural resources to the LGUs;

(d) continuing depreciation of upland soils;

(e) degradation of existing biodiversity and critical habitats in protected areas; and

(f) unstable and unpredictable government policies, among others.

Unfavorable economic conditions have also forced about two-thirds of the population who are dependent on subsistence farming and fishing to adopt destructive resource utilization practices. Compounding this is the uncertainty in resource use due to conflicts between alternative land (e.g., the maintenance of large portions of forest lands as protected areas and ancestral domain tends to conflict with current efforts to revive the mining industry) and water uses. Similarly, the competing interests between biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ancestral domains divert attention on more pressing concerns such as resource depletion.

In addition, soil degradation caused by massive conversion of forestlands and grasslands to urban use and increased cultivation in upland areas remains a major problem. Approximately 45 percent of the country’s total land area suffers from moderate to severe soil erosion, most of which are still unabated. Soil erosion in the upland have contributed to siltation of rivers and irrigation dams and have also wrought havoc to coastal marine ecosystem.

Unless environmental pressure is significantly reduced and society’s response is made equal to the pressure it exerts on the environment, the sustainability of the already frayed state of the Philippine ecology will consequently be undermined.

Targets

2. Manage 50 PAs by Protected Areas Management Boards (PAMBs).

4. Strengthen upland and forest dwellers and indigenous people (IP) organizations to enhance their meaningful participation in sectoral development and in the management of natural resources;

5. Formulate new schemes to enhance public-private partnership in ecosystem management and development efforts; and

6. Promote strategic alliance between the private sector and farmers, fisherfolk, and/or their cooperatives on various productive enterprises.

1. Fasttrack the processing and issuance of ancestral domain titles of indigenous peoples;

2. Enhance the access of upland farmers, and IPs to credit and support services financing;

3. Improve capacity for arbitration and resolution of natural resources use conflicts; and

4. Strengthen resource information management to improve environment and natural resources management planning and decision-making.

1. Strengthen technology generation, promotion, commercialization programs especially the linkage among the technology users, private sector, LGUs, SUCs, DOST and DENR;

2. Enhance the role of LGUs, NGOs and peoples organizations in the research, development and extension management process through empowerment and capacity-building strategies;

3. Promote joint government-private sector research activities on environment and natural resources; and

4. Institutionalize an intellectual property rights (IPR) protection system for plant and animal materials including processes developed through local research and development.

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