Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Local Management of Mangrove Forests in the Philippines: Successful Conservation or Efficient Resource Exploitation?

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent environmental “narratives” suggest that local people are effective stewards of forest resources. Local restoration and management of mangrove forests, in particular, are now widely advocated as a solution to achieve both economic and environmental conservation goals. This paper presents findings from a study of 2 coastal sites in the Philippines that are renowned and often showcased as success stories in community-based, mangrove reforestation and management. These cases are especially intriguing because local tree planting and management emerged in both areas long before governments and nongovernment organizations began to promote such activities. These management systems are a successful economic innovation in that planted mangroves protect homes and fish pond dykes from wave and wind damage, and the production of high-value construction wood is dramatically enhanced through intensive plantation management. Mangrove plantations are an efficient alternative to harvesting from unplanted, natural mangroves and their spread may reduce harvesting pressures on existing forests. However, mangrove plantations are structurally and compositionaly very different from unplanted forests, a finding of particular concern given that such plantations are increasingly encroaching into and replacing natural forests. Furthermore, planted forests are not typically viewed by planters in terms of their environmental conservation values and are frequently cut and cleared to make space for alternative uses, especially fish farming and residential settlement. The suggestion that these local mangrove management systems are successful for conservation thus needs to be qualified.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Agrawal, A., and Gibson, C. C. (1999). Enchantment and disenchantment: The role of community in natural resource conservation. World Development 27: 629-649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, A. B. (ed.) (1990). Alternatives to Deforestation: Steps Towards Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest, Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, A. B., Magee, P., Gely, A., and Jardim, M. A. G. (1995). Forest management patterns in the floodplain of the Amazon estuary. Conservation Biology 9: 47-61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, J. E. M., and Dewees, P. A. (eds.) (1995). Tree Management in Farmer Strategies: Responses to Agricultural Intensification, Oxford University Press, New York, 287pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baconguis, S. R., Cabahug, D. M., and Alonzo-Pasicolon, S. N. (1990). Identification and inventory of Philippine forested-wetland resource. Forest Ecology and Management 33/34: 21-44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, C. (1988). The social consequences of tropical shrimp mariculture development. Ocean and Shoreline Management 11: 31-44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balee, W. (1989). The culture of Amazonian forests. In Posey, D. A., and Balee, W. (eds.), Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies (Advances in Economic Botany 7), New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, pp. 1-21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balee, W. (1992). People of the fallow: A historical ecology of lowland South America. In Redford, K. H., and Padoch, C. (eds.), Conservation of Neo-tropical Forests: Starting from Traditional Use, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 35-57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broad, R., and Cavanagh, J. (1993). Plundering Paradise: The Struggle for the Environment of the Philippines, University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, W. H., and Fischer, A. F. (1918). Philippine Mangrove Swamps. Bulletin No. 17, Bureau of Forestry, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Manila.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabahug, D. M., Jr., Ambi, F. M., Nisperos, S. O., Truzan, N. C., Jr. (1986). Impact of community-based mangrove forestation to mangrove dependent families and to nearby coastal areas in Central Visayas: A case example. In National Mangrove Committee (ed.), Mangroves of Asia and the Pacific: Status and Management, Natural Resources Management Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines, pp. 441-466.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calumpong, H. P. (1992). Vegetation of the Talabong mangrove forest reserve: Suggestions for rehabilitation. Silliman Journal 36(1): 123-128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calumpong, H. P. (1994). Status of mangrove resources in the Philippines. In Wilkinson, C., Sudara, S., and Ming, C. L. (eds.), Proceedings of the Third ASEAN-Australia Symposium on Living Coastal Resources, Bangkok, Thailand, May 16–20, 1994, Vol. 1. Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID) and Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia, pp. 215-229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calumpong, H. P., and Luchavez, J. A. (1997). Profile of the Bais Bay Basin. Silliman Journal 37(3/4): 1-27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calumpong, H. P., and Menez, E. G. (1997). Field Guide to the Common Mangroves, Seagrasses and Algae of the Philippines, Bookmark, Makati City, Philippines, 197pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cernea, M. (1989). User groups as producers in participatory afforestation strategies, World Bank Discussion Papers 70, The World Bank, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cintron, G., and Schaeffer-Novelli, Y. (1984). Methods for studying mangrove structure. In Snedaker, S. C., and Snedaker, J. G. (eds.), The Mangrove Ecosystem: Research Methods, UNESCO, Paris, pp. 91-113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conklin, B., and Graham, L. (1995). The shifting middle ground: Amazonian Indians and eco-politics. American Anthropologist 97(4): 695-710.

    Google Scholar 

  • DENR. (1990). Compilation of Mangrove Regulations, Coastal Resources Management Committee, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines. 47pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • DENR. (1994). Mangrove Regeneration and Management, Mangrove Technical Review Committee, Fisheries Sector Program, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines.

    Google Scholar 

  • DENR, (1996). Executive Order No. 263: adopting community-based forest management as the national strategy to ensure the sustainable development of the country's forestlands resources and providing mechanisms for its implementation. In Compilation of Rules and Regulations (Integrated Social Forestry Program). Social Forestry Division, Forest Management Bureau, Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines. pp. 242-245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewalt, B. R., Vergne, P., and Hardin, M. (1996). Shrimp aquaculture development and the environment: People, mangroves and fisheries on the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras. World Development 24: 1193-1208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eghenter, C. (2000). What is Tana Ulen good for? Considerations on indigenous forest management, conservation, and research in the interior of Indonesian Borneo. Human Ecology 28(3): 331-357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eusebio, M. A., Tesoro, F. O., and Cabahug, D. M. (1986). Environmental impact of timber harvesting on mangrove ecosystem in the Philippines. In National Mangrove Committee (ed.), Mangroves of Asia and the Pacific: Status and Management, Natural Resources Management Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines, pp. 337-354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairhead, J., and Leach, M. (1995). False forest history, complicit social analysis: Rethinking some West African environmental narratives. World Development 23: 1023-1025.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairhead, J., and Leach, M. (1996). Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in a Forest–Savanna Mosaic, Cambridge University Press, New York, 354pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong, F. W. (1992). Perspectives for sustainable resource utilization and management of nipa vegetation. Economic Botany 46: 45-54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Pompa, A., and Kaus, A. (1990). Traditional management of tropical forests in Mexico. In Anderson, A. B. (ed.), Alternatives to Deforestation: Steps Towards Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 45-64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackel, J. D. (1999). Community conservation and future of Africa's wildlife. Conservation Biology 13(4): 726-734.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, L. S., Dixon, J. A., and Miller, G. O. (1989). Mangrove forests: An undervalued resource of the land and of the sea. In Borgese, E. M, Ginsburg, N., and Morgan, J. R. (eds.), Ocean Yearbook 8, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 254-288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyman, E. L. (1983). Smallholder tree farming in the Philippines. UNASYLVA 35(139): 25-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jara, R. S. (1987). Traditional uses of the mangrove in the Philippines. In Field, C. D., and Dartnall, A. J. (eds.), Mangrove Ecosystems of Asia and the Pacific: Status, Exploitation and Management. Proceedings of the Research for Development Seminar held at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia, May 18–25, 1985, Australian Development Assistance Bureau and Australian Committee for Mangrove Research, pp. 114-130.

  • Kairo, J. G. (2002). Community participatory forestry for the rehabilitation of deforested mangrove areas in Kenya. Paper presented at the International Tropical Timber Organization's International Mangrove Workshop, Cartagena, Colombia, February 19–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaly, U. L., and Jones, G. P. (1998). Mangrove restoration: A potential tool for coastal management in tropical developing countries. Ambio 27: 656-661.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, R. R. (1990). Creation and restoration of coastal plain wetlands in Florida. In Kusler, J. A., and Kentula, M. E. (eds.), Wetland Creation and Restoration: The Status of the Science, Island Press, Washington, DC, pp. 73-101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luchavez, J. A., and Abrenica, B. T. (1997). Fisheries profile of Bais Bay, Negros Oriental. Silliman Journal 37(3/4): 93-171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mantilla, C. L., and Melana, E. E. (1991). Folk technologies of mangrove reforestation in Bohol. (Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources). Ecosystem Research Digest 1(2): 50-57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melana, D. M., Atchue, J., III, Yao, C. E., Edwards, R., Melana, E. E., and Gonzales, H. I. (2000). Mangrove Management Handbook, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Manila, Philippines through the Coastal Resources Management Project, Cebu City, Philippines. 96pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meltzoff, S. K., and LiPuma, E. (1986). The social and political economy of coastal zone management: Shrimp mariculture in Ecuador. Coastal Zone Management Journal 14: 349-380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naylor, R. L., Goldburg, R. J., Mooney, H., Beveridge, M., Clay, J., Folke, C., Kautsky, N., Lubchenco, J., Primavera, J., Williams, M. (1998). Nature's subsidies to shrimp and salmon farming. Science 282: 883-884.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyerges, A. E. (1998). Review of J. Fairhead and M. Leach's “Misreading the African Landscape:” Society and Ecology in a Forest–Savanna Landscape." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4: 390-391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, E. (1992). Forest islands and Kayapo resource management in Amazonia: A reappraisal of the apete. American Antrhopologist 94: 406-428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, E. (1993). Fact and fiction in Amazonia: The case of the apete. American Antrhopologist 95: 715-723.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasicolan, P. N., Udo de Haes, H. A., and Sajise, P. E. (1997). Farm forestry: An alternative to government-driven reforestation in the Philippines. Forest Ecology and Management 99: 261-274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peluso, N. L. (1992). Rich Forests, Poor People, University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, C. M. (1996). Beyond nomenclature and use: A review of ecological methods for ethnobotanists. In Alexiades, M. N. (ed.), Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, pp. 241-276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poffenberger, M. (ed.) (1990). Keepers of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia, Kumarian Press, West Hartford, Connecticut.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poffenberger, M., and McGean, B. (eds.) (1996). Village Voices, Forest Choices: Joint Forest Management in India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 356pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy, R. S., Pollnac, R. B., Predo, C. D., and Katon, B. M. (1996). Impact Evaluation of Community-Based Coastal Resource Management Projects in the Philippines, International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), Makati City, Philippines.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey, D. A. (1984). A preliminary report on diversified management of tropical forest by the Kyapo Indians of the Brazilian Amazon. Advances in Economic Botany 1: 112-126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey, D. A. (1985). Indigenous management of tropical forest ecosystems: The case of the Kayapo Indians of the Brazilian Amazon. Agroforestry Systems 3: 139-158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey, D. A., and Balee, W. (eds.) (1989). Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies, Advances in Economic Botany 7, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, 237pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Primavera, J. H. (1995). Mangroves and brackish water pond culture in the Philippines. Hydrobiologia 295: 303-309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Primavera, J. H., and Agbayani, R. F. (1996). Comparative strategies in community-based mangrove rehabilitation programs in the Philippines. Paper presented at the ECOTONE V: Community Participation in Conservation, Sustainable Use and Rehabilitation of Mangroves in Southeast Asia, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, January 8–12, 1996.

  • Redford, K. (1992). The ecologically noble savage. Cultural Survival Quarterly 15(1): 46-48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redford, K., and Padoch, C. (eds.) (1992). Conservation of Neo-Tropical Forests: Working from Traditional Resources Use, Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roe, E. M. (1991). Development narratives, or making the best of blueprint development. World Development 19: 287-300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romm, J. (1989). Forestry for development: Some lessons from Asia. Journal of World Forest Resources Management 4: 37-46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saenger, P., and Siddiqi, N. A. (1993). Land from the sea: The mangrove afforestation program in Bangladesh. Ocean and Coastal Management 20: 23-39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddall, S. E., Atchue, J. A., III, and Murray, R. L., Jr. (1985). Mariculture development in mangroves: A case study of the Philippines, Ecuador and Panama. In Clark, J. R. (ed.), Coastal Resources Management: Development Case Studies. Renewable Resources Information Series, Coastal Management Publication No. 3. Prepared for the National Park Service, US Department of Interior, and the US Agency for International Development. Research Planning Institute, Columbia, South Carolina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddiqi, N. A., and Khan, M. A. S. (1990). Growth performance of mangrove trees along the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Mangrove Ecosystems Occasional Papers No. 8 (Part-I), International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, pp. 4-14.

  • Smith, A. H., and Berkes, F. (1993). Community-based use of mangrove resources in St. Lucia. International Journal of Environmental Studies 43: 123-131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, N. J., Lewis, R. R., and Burbridge, P. R. (1999). Disused shrimp ponds and mangrove rehabilitation. In Streever, W. (ed.), An International Perspective on Wetland Rehabilitation, Kluwer Academic, The Netherlands, pp. 277-297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thacher, T., Lee, D. R., and Schelhas, J. W. (1997). Farmer participation in reforestation incentive programs in Costa Rica. Agroforestry Systems 35: 269-289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorhaug, A. (1990). Restoration of mangroves and seagrasses—Economic benefits for fisheries and mariculture. In Berger, J. J. (ed.), Environmental Restoration: Science and Strategies for Restoring the Earth, Island Press, Washington, DC, pp. 265-281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tucker, C. M. (1999). Private versus common property forests: Forest conditions and tenure in a Honduran community. Human Ecology 27: 201-230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vayda, A. P., and Walters, B. B. (1999). Against political ecology. Human Ecology 27: 167-179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, B. B. (1997). Human ecological questions for tropical restoration: Experiences from planting native upland forest and coastal mangrove trees in the Philippines. Forest Ecology and Management 99: 275-290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, B. B. (1998). Muddy mangroves and murky common property theories. Paper presented at the 1998 meeting of the International Association for the Study of Common Property Resources, Vancouver, Canada, June 6–9, 1998. Abstract published on pp. 285–287, Book of Abstracts: Crossing Boundaries, 7th Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (1998).

  • Walters, B. B. (2000). Local mangrove planting in the Philippines: Are fisherfolk and fishpond owners effective restorationists? Restoration Ecology 8(3): 237-246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, B. B. (2002). Government policy and local practice for mangrove protection in the Philippines. Paper accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists, New Orleans, November 20–24.

  • Walters, B. B. (2003). People and mangroves in the Philippines: Fifty years of coastal environmental change. Environmental Conservation 30(2): 293-303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinstock, J. A. (1994). Rhizophora mangrove agroforestry. Economic Botany 48: 210-213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wernstedt, F. L., and Spencer, J. E. (1967). The Philippine Island World: A Physical, Cultural, and Regional Geography, University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, C. E. (1996). Mangrove reforestation in the Central Visayas. Greenfields 24(5/6): 29-31, 34–37.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada, E4L 1A7

    Bradley B. Walters

Authors
  1. Bradley B. Walters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Walters, B.B. Local Management of Mangrove Forests in the Philippines: Successful Conservation or Efficient Resource Exploitation?. Human Ecology 32, 177–195 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HUEC.0000019762.36361.48

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HUEC.0000019762.36361.48

Search

Navigation