Fair and transparent benefit-sharing in Philippine Government forest restoration programs

People’s Organizations (POs) in the Philippines have been working with the Government in programs and projects with upland communities since the adoption of a national community-based forest management strategy 25 years ago. The long-term success of Government reforestation programs depends on the incentives of POs to continue managing the resources beyond the lifetime of the program. Clear access and utilization rights — including fair and transparent benefit-sharing agreements — are pre-conditions to this process. This brief provides concrete policy recommendations to ensure that POs can benefit adequately from the timber and non-timber forest resources they have contributed to creating through planting forest- and fruit-tree species or in restoring and rehabilitating forest areas through the protection and maintenance of naturally regrowing seedlings.