In the Media
Philippines: Return of the natives
March 11, 2011
Malaya.com
Some local farmers in Leyte, Philippines have joined the Poblacion District 2 Rainforestation Farmers Association (PDRAFA). They conduct rainforestation activities in lands. Any land including grassland, cogonal or limestone areas can be converted into rainforestation farms.
Under a 50-year contract, the farmers will get 25 percent of whatever the rainforest produces; 75 percent goes to PDRAFA.
“Some 180 ha of rainforestations are now in place in Leyte, from just 2.4 ha in 1990,” said Dr. Paciencia P. Milan of the Visayas State University. “By 2020, there will be 200,000 ha of rainforestation sites nationwide.”
Rainforestation provides farmers with stable and higher income by using native trees in combination with agricultural crops. The concept is to plant trees native to the Philippine forest,” she said. “It is tested and proven that forests are more sustainable and increasingly diversified if local trees are planted instead of foreign or introduced species.
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Keywords: agroforestry, Asia, Philippines, rainforestation