Incentive structures for policy and institutional mainstreaming of commercial forestry investment sub-projects

The underlying causes of deforestation in the Philippines include policy, institutional and governance issues, such as unstable, confusing and conflicting forest policies and mandates; logging bans as perverse incentives; open-access forest lands due to lack of clear tenure; limited coordination with other sectors; poor monitoring and law enforcement; and the inability of institutions to adapt and carry out effective strategies.

The current policy and regulatory framework overseen by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) are largely influenced by extractive-driven systems from the period when Timber License Agreements were the dominant tenure instrument and “underlines the failure to adjust policies and strategies that respond to devolved, holistic, interconnected, and community-managed ecosystems” (Carandang 2008:35).