The Philippines

Reforestation and Environment Education with Highland Indigenous People

September 2000 - August 2001


Young participants at a tree planting site in Salasa.
They learn how to relate to nature, for example, plants, animals, mountains and rivers,
which enables them to learn the value of lives and relationships of nature and human.
Sponsored by: National Land Afforestation Promotion Organization
Implemented by: The Institute of Cultural Affairs: Japan
LUCRE International
Salasa Community
1．Virgin forest in the Mt. Mapidya range. It is a watershed which provides water to areas, for example, Manila, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija. The Mt. Mapidya range belongs to the Sierra Marde mountain range which is the largest mountain range in the Philippines. Endemic species of plants such as Celtis Philippinensis Malaikmo, mammals such as monkeys and wild cats, and reptiles such as boa constrictors and monitor lizards live in the forests. Philippines Eagle, an endangered species, is also thriving.
2．Virgin forests are located 400-500m above sea level on Mt. Pinanganakan and Mt. Kinubabawan. The forests remain since they are not easily accessed. However, they will soon be destroyed without efforts to conserve them.

Denudation Continues...

3．Forest destruction in the Nueva Ecija part of the Sierra Madre mountain range is severe, and most of the mountains except for those which are inaccessible are already denuded. Currently, the main causes of denudation are illegal logging, over-grazing, and forest fires. Some forest fires are caused by illegal loggers who try to cover up evidence of their activities.
4． Illegal loggers are transporting timbers through the river. It takes a few days to get to lowlands. According to an illegal logger, those who cut trees earn 1 peso (about 2.4 yen) per foot per person, and those who transport the timbers earn 8 pesos (about 19 yen) per foot per group.
5．Mr. Nasino, Project Director, and Mr. Pineda from the National Commission for Indigenous People are examining the timbers transported by water buffalo. They will inform the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the location, species of the tree, and size of the timbers.

Consequences of denudation

6．Denudation lessens the mountainsﾕ capacity to absorb water and makes the ground unstable. Flash floods happen often, and land slides are widely observed.
7．River bank erosion and siltation are observed. Living creatures such as plants and animals are seriously affected by these environmental changes. Human beings are also suffering from muddy drinking water and the farm and house destruction caused by flash floods.

Salasa Comunity

8．The community in Salasa was formed in 2000, and currently, 28 Dumagat families are living there. There is no electricity or tap water, and people get water from rivers and water falls. It is about 30km from the lowlands.
9．A house of a Dumagat family. It is made of wood and banana leaves.
10．Dumagat mother and child. Dumagats have their own language (Dumagat), and they believe in an indigenous religion based on animism. They used to live by shores, but they lost their original land when they were chased away by migrants, and moved into the forests.
11．Children are playing and enjoying themselves in the middle of the nature. Everything in the mountains is their teachers.
12．Dumagat are originally nomadic and rely on forest resources for their living. There used to be abundant fruits such as bananas and papayas and also animals for hunting. However, forest resources are very limited due to forest destruction, and people are not able to get enough food from the forests. Many people started to eat rice, but they do not have enough income to purchase rice. Therefore, some people decided to settle down for food production and reforestation. 50 people participate in the project, and they are moving towards sustainable living.

Nursery

13．A nursery was constructed so that seedlings could be cultivated in the community. The size of the nursery is 10m x 20m, and it has seedbeds, seedling space and a working area. It is equipped with a PVC pipe to bring water from the Salasa river so as to enable year-round nursery activities.
14．Children helped with the weeding. All the nursery work was done by Salasa residents. A two-day seminar on nursery technologies was conducted to enable project participants to take the initiative in nursery management. 50 people attended the seminar, and learned about nursery construction, monitoring of nursery performance, and pest control.
15．Forest tree species such as mahogany, g-melina, narra, teak, and ipil-ipil were grown at the nursery. The photo shows mahogany seedlings.

Reforestation

16．Tree planting activities were conducted in the areas where forests were already destroyed and soil erosion was serious. The total area of reforestation sites is eight hectares; four hectares of steep slope in the eastern part of Salasa, three hectares of rolling hills, and one hectare in the north.
17．Planted were17, 235 trees such as mahogany, g-melina, bamboo, and griricidia, jackfruits, and mango.

Forest Rehabilitation and Soil Control

18．Denudation and soil erosion is becoming serious in Salasa, and gullies are observed in many places. Forest rehabilitation and soil control methods were introduced to prevent further erosion and damage to the surrounding environment. Seminars were held in the community so that villagers could actively participate and promote sustainable practices.

19．Villagers attended the training seminars for 15 days. Trainers explained the importance of forest rehabilitation and soil control for biodiversity conservation and the stabilization of peoplesﾕ lives, and then trained participants in various methods.
Gabions (Stone Check Dam)

20．A gully stabilization method called ﾒGabionsﾓ using wire mesh and stones. Interlink wire is formed into a rectangular basket.
20．A gully stabilization method called ﾒGabionsﾓ using wire mesh and stones. Interlink wire is formed into a rectangular basket.
22．Gabions were constructed in six locations in Salasa. They will lessen the impact of flash floods to the forests and tree planting sites.

River Bank Erosion Prevention

23．River bank erosion prevention methods such as Rauhbaum are applied. Bamboos and shrubs are planted to stabilize the stream bank. The roots of these plants will hold the soil in place and reduce the impact of water flow.
24．Rockwalls were also made to control river bank erosion. Bamboos were planted to stabilize the rockwalls and the soil, after stones were enclosed in the interlink wire.
25．This is a contour hedgerow, a soil control method by planting legumes, shrubs, and grass on contour. Contour hedgerows were introduced as part of Sloping Agriculture Land Technology in this project. Trees such as Acacia mangium and mahogany were planted on the upper part of the slopes to supply water to the lower part, as well as to fix the soil. The Natural Vegetation Strips method utilizing naturally grown grass was also practiced.
26．This is a new approach to control soil erosion. Cassava will be continuously planted all year round along the gullies.
27．Nitrogen fixing plants such as Centrocema pubiscence and Colopogonium were planted as ground cover. They are useful for soil fixing and improvement.

Environment and Literacy Education

28、29．People in Salasa need to fully understand the significance of environment conservation themselves and actively participate in order to make the conservation effort sustainable. Literacy is an important factor to make training effective and promote sustainable living. However, there was no school and the literacy rate was less than 5% as of April 2000. The Dumagat culture and identity are gradually disappearing due to the sudden flow of lowland culture into the highlands. Salasa Learning Center was established in November 2000, and environment and literacy education was started in December 2000 to respond to the villagersﾕ strong desire for education.
30．Sixteen children and eleven adults attend the classes. Mr. Danillo Saroy, a Dumagat from Salasa, was hired as a teacher, so that Dumagat culture and its respct for the nature would be promoted through education. Dumagat language is mainly used during classes, and also Tagalog depending on the subjects. Forest and agroforestry are among the main topics.
31．Students are required to bring small creatures such as leaves and shells which they find near their home to stimulate their curiosity in their surrounding environment. The students speak and write about what they bring, and it has been useful for awareness raising and literacy improvement.

 

 

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