UPLAND FARMERS can help mitigate climate change by planting trees, according to a private volunteer organization based in southern Philippines.
“By planting trees in your farm, you help create a sink for the carbon dioxide that should be having been released into the atmosphere,” explains Roy C. Alimoane, director of the Davaobased Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC).
A study done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed that a single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 21 kilograms a year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two persons. About 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide are removed and 1.07 tons of life-giving oxygen are produced for every ton of new grown trees.
The MBRLC encourages farmers to plant trees by following the system which it has developed: the Sustainable Agroforest Land Technology (SALT 3). “We have been promoting this technology to upland farmers who come to the center,” says Alimoane.
At least a fourth of the total population lives in the upland areas, where most trees are located. Most of them practiced slash-andburning agriculture (“kaingin” farming). “These migrant farmers attack virgin forest lands to cultivate the rich soil, which they quickly deplete,” Alimoane observes. “Then, they move on, looking for more.
Today, there is no more land where they can move on to.” In the Philippine context, the uplands are rolling to steep lands, with slopes ranging upward from 18 percent. About 60% of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares are classifi ed as uplands. Most of those living in these areas are farming families in dire poverty and insecurity.
“The upland farmer faces a very dark future unless something can be done for him very soon,” commented American missionary Harold R. Watson, who received the 1985 Ramon Magsaysay Award for peace and international understanding. “He is the least educated, least paid, least healthy, least hopeful, and most neglected (in terms of agricultural development) of all people in the Philippines.”
To help upland farmers uplift their standard of living, MBRLC developed Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT 1) in the early 1980s. “The principle of SALT is the same as that used by the Ifugao tribes,” says Alimoane.
“All we are doing is suggesting using trees and shrubs instead of rocks.” The one-hectare SALT scheme still requires careful management of the space between the rows of trees and shrubs.
A combination of permanent (like cacao and coffee), semipermanent (banana, for instance) and annual crops (vegetables, beans, and cereals) is recommended so as to rebuild the ecosystem and maximize yields while enabling the farmer to organize his work time efficiently.
As upland farmers need protein to make them healthy, the MBRLC launched Simple Agro-Livestock Technology (SALT 2) in the 1990s. Here, a farmer still follows the concept of the original SALT but adds raising goats into the system. In half-a-hectare, 12 does and one buck are raised.
The farm lot is divided into two parts: one for crop production and the other half for forage. The goat manure are utilized as fertilizer for both the forage and the crops. “We recommend dairy goats so the farmer has a source of milk each day,” Alimoane says.
To help turn the tide of deforestation in the country, the MBRLC developed SALT 3. “As a form of agroforestry, we aim to get the good things of agricultural production and reforestation,” Alimoane points out.
In a two-hectare farm, one hectare is allotted to food production while another one hectare is planted to trees.
The trees are planted in three different zone compartments: 10-15 years (like acacia and narra), 5-9 years (mangium, mahogany, etc.), and 1-4 years (ipil-ipil, sesban, etc.). “While waiting for the trees to grow, we advise to farmers to plant short term crops like vegetables, tubers, and crawling plants like ubi and sweet potato,” Alimoane says.
As a source of immediate income, the lower portion of the farm is planted to various crops. Still the concept of the original SALT is followed: two rows of nitrogen fi xing shrubs and in between the hedgerows, crops are planted.
Every month or so, the hedgerows are cut and the cuttings are placed below the crops to serve as mulching materials and as fertilizer. Aside from providing decent income to upland farmers, Alimoane believes that by planting trees, they can help alleviate the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“Trees and forests play a vital role in regulating the climate since they absorb carbon dioxide,” he says.
And yes, it is feasible, a new study conducted by the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) found out. The researchers look at the feasibility of a forestry carbon project for the Magbukun Aytas of Kanawan, Morong. They are an indigenous tribe living in the 23,688-hectare Bataan Natural Park (BNP).
At least 10,000 hectares of the park has been declared as the tribe’s ancestral domain. In the past, it has done eco-restoration work in about 1,500 hectares of BNP’s forest. EEPSEA selected the site for the study “because the Aytas need funds to allow them to conserve and manage their ancestral lands, which are under constant threat.”
The EEPSEA Policy Brief noted: “The carbon forestry project covering 9,775 hectares proposed by the study was designed to reverse the current deforestation trend in the Aytas’ ancestral domain.” If put in place, the project would have three components: reforestation, enrichment plan ting, and forest protection.
“Reforestation would be undertaken in brushland areas while enrichment planting and forest protection would be implemented in second growth and old growth forests, respectively,” the summary report explained.
Three different points of view were done for the feasibility of the project, namely: technical feasibility, social acceptability, and fi nancial stability. Highlights of the study are as follows:
• If no steps are taken to reduce deforestation in the Aytas’ ancestral land, the carbon contained in the region would drop to around 1.16 million tons by 2040 (from 1.31 million tons in 2011).
• Under the “low” scenario, the total carbon benefits that the project would bring would amount to 20.26 million tons of carbon dioxide. Under the “high” scenario, total carbon benefits would be 25.07 million tons of carbon dioxide.
• With carbon valued at a low price of US$5/ tCO2, the four scenarios’ net benefi ts for 1 to 3 years would be negative, but they would become positive from year 6 onwards. At the higher carbon price (US$20/tCO2), the net benefi ts for the “medium low,” “medium high,” “high” scenarios would be negative for years 1 to 2. In the “low” scenario, the net benefi t would be negative only in year 1 and would become positive from year 2 onwards.
• The net present values for four scenarios at different prices per tCO2 (with discount rates of 10%, 15%, and 20%) were P3.874 million for “low,” P3.137 million for “medium low,” P3.339 million for “medium high,” and P3.537 million for “high.”
In summary, the project’s net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) for the forest area that would be managed over 30 years is P170.271 million and 40%, respectively.