LAUNCHED on June 26, the Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement (SFLMA) will consolidate the Philippine government’s management of 15.8 million hectares of forest lands. Spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Forest Management Bureau (FMB), this integration of forestry permits and mechanisms into one agreement is designed to benefit forest-dependent communities around the country.
This consolidation of seven forestry tenure instruments into a single, streamlined production-sharing agreement will eliminate “the fragmented application processes and overlapping requirements that have historically discouraged potential investors and delayed project implementation,” Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla said. It will also create “clearer pathways and management strategies for sustainable forest enterprises.”
One long-term result is the production of more jobs in the beneficiary communities.
Lotilla added that the SFLMA indicates a major shift in national forest management by “offering 25-year renewable agreements that allow multiple management strategies within a single forest area — from agroforestry and ecotourism to forest plantation development and conservation initiatives.”
The SFLMA supersedes multiple instruments used for different purposes, including the Integrated Forest Management Agreement, Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA), Forest Land Grazing Management Agreement, Socialized Industrial Forest Management Agreement, Forest Land Use Agreement (FLAg), Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism and Special Land Use Permit.
The DENR showcased two major programs during the launch. First, Forest for Life: 5 Million Trees by 2028 aims to plant 5 million indigenous trees nationwide, targeting 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) in carbon sequestration by 2028 and 3.5 million tCO2e by 2038. Priority areas include Ilocos Norte, Rizal, Leyte, Bataan, Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte.
Second, the Potential Investment Areas consist of the DENR’s mapping of 1.186 million hectares of forest lands ready for sustainable investment in agroforestry, grazing and specialized forest uses. These areas represent immediate opportunities for private sector engagement in sustainable forest management.
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