case studies undp: camalandaan agroforestry farmers' association, philippines

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: CAMALANDAAN AGROFORESTRY FARMERS' ASSOCIATION, Philippines

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Philippines

CAMALANDAANAGROFORESTRY FARMERSASSOCIATION

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran

Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Camalandaan Agroorest Farmers Association, and in particular the guidance a

inputs o Dr. Ely Alcala. All photo credits courtesy o Dr. Ely Alcala. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Camalandaan Agroorestry Farmers Association, Philippines. Equator Initiative Case Stu

Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858


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PROJECT SUMMARYThe Camalandaan Agroorestry Farmers Associationworks to conserve ragments o lowland limestone oreston the Philippines island o Negros through on-arm treeconservation in the Southern Cauayan Municipal Forestand Watershed Reserve. The association is made up o localarmers who have been allocated rights to plots o landby the government as part o a community-based orestmanagement agreement.

Through a participatory land management plan, the grouphas divided community land into strict protection zones,

publicly-owned multiple-use zones, special managementzones, agricultural zones, and built-up areas. In addition toadopting agroorestry practices that improve agriculturalproductivity and help to actively regenerate the landscape,some members have been deputized as orest wardens known as the Bantay Lasang to regulate access toorest areas, as well as assisting researchers rom SillimanUniversity in biological monitoring.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2008

FOUNDED: 1983

LOCATION: Cauayan, southwest Negros Occidental

BENEFICIARIES: Farming households of Camalandaan

BIODIVERSITY: Southern Cauayan Municipal Reserve

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CAMALANDAAN AGROFORESTRYFARMERS ASSOCIATIONPhilippines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 5

Biodiversity Impacts 6

Socioeconomic Impacts 8

Policy Impacts 8

Sustainability 9

Partners 9


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4

ounded in 1983, Camalandaan Agroorestry Farmers Association

CAFA) is made up o second- and third-generation armers growing

ce and corn on small arm lots allocated by the government as part

a recent community-based orest management agreement.

Ecological context

inamayan and Inayawan are orest villages situated in the local

overnment unit, or barangay, o Camalandaan, in Cauayan

municipality, located in the south-western tip o the province o

Negros Occidental, Philippines. The provinces landscape is generally

illy, dominated by karst and coralline topography, contrasting with

he largely at and volcanic landscapes o eastern Negros Island.he area contains some o the last remaining lowland limestone

orest on the island o Negros. The orest is composed o several

ragments that have survived large-scale logging operations, but are

till threatened by occasional illegal logging. The orest ragments

re dominated by molave (Vitex parviora) trees interspersed with

pecies in the Dipterocarpaceae amily. These orest patches orm

art o the Greater Calatong Watershed, which supplies water to

ome 4,000 armers in the areas o Cauayan municipality and Sipalay

City.

Evolution o a community-based agroorestry initiative

ven beore CAFA was established, there was a long history o ruralworker organization and orest protection in the region. The armers

hat would become the core members o CAFA held responsibilities

onerred through contract stewardship certicates which granted

ccess and use o orested areas. As part o this locally-developed

cheme, armers were responsible or maintaining orest cover

n their armland. This combined the twin tasks o arming under

icult karst limestone conditions and monitoring their orest plots

o protect the orest ecosystem rom decline and degradation and

o protect endemic wildlie against hunters and poachers. This was

challenging situation or local armers or a number o reasons.

he rst were the constraints o working unproductive, small-hold

arms. The second was that local armers were ill-equippe

conront armed poachers and understandably unwilling to ass

the risk o doing so. And lastly, there was a strong temptatio

armers with ew other income-generation options to cut d

trees or commercial sale. CAFA members persevered, however

earned the community o Camalandaan a reputation as respon

stewards o local biodiversity and orests.

In 2001, biologists rom Silliman Universitys Angelo King Ce

or Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM) b

working in the area. In collaboration with local armers and C

members, biological monitoring was undertaken. As a direct r

o this participatory monitoring, and the resulting documentatithe rich biological diversity in the orests o Cauayan, the Sout

Cauayan Municipal Forest and Watershed Reserve was establi

in 2003. This sparked a second phase o research and conserva

which would be carried out rom 2004 to 2007 and which act

engaged community members in orest protection. Membe

CAFA were selectively deputized as orest wardens and given the

o protecting the orest. As orest wardens known as the Ba

Lasang members o CAFA now conduct biological monito

orest protection, and environmental education campaign

well as assisting academic partners in eld research and reso

assessment. These activities are undertaken voluntarily, with s

assistance rom the local government and NGO partners.

The main objective o CAFA is to improve the socio-political

economic conditions o member armers through the prote

and conservation o natural resources using agroorestry techniq

Alongside agroorestry, the initiative and its partners are eng

in womens empowerment, political advocacy, reproductive he

programmes, developing sustainable alternative livelihood op

or local armers, and a edgling ecotourism enterprise. CAFA

twice been named the Most Outstanding Peoples Organizatio

the Environment Programmes Category o the Negros Occid

Province.

Background and Context


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55

Key Activities and Innovations

Camalandaan Agroorest Farmers Association has divided

ommunity land into various zones according to a participatory land

management plan. Strict protection zones include orested areas,

bufer zones, and riparian reserves. Publicly-owned multiple-use

ones include parks and other tourism areas. Special management

ones have been delineated or agricultural lands with unique

cological values. General agricultural zones are awarded under

tewardship to individual armers. Lastly, built-up areas are set aside

or housing, school buildings, health centres and other constructions.

he goal o the participatory land management plan is to equitably

balance the allocation o land resources according to the various

eeds o the community and that o healthy, ully unctioningcosystems. The geographic area that alls under CAFA management

is a natural watershed; it is a headwater o 48 creeks which orm

major river systems. The watershed and its tributaries suppor

agricultural communities downstream. The area also hosts

orest patches including karst, dipterocarp hardwood, and mo

orest types that are home to endemic ora and auna, man

which are threatened or endangered.

Protection o the Pinamayan orest was initially carried out

group o local armers who relied on this ecosystem or water

in agricultural irrigation and domestic use, and supplanted

incomes with the sale o orest resources. From a small group o

than ten members, the Bantay Lasang organisation o volun

orest wardens currently numbers 56 members.


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6

Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

n 2003, the Barangay Council o Pinamayan passed a resolution

protecting the orest ragments in their area; this resolution was

ater adopted by the Cauayan Municipal Council, which expanded

he protected area to include the catchment basins o Pinamayan

nd Inayawan orests in the Southern Cauayan Municipal Forest

nd Watershed Reserve. The creation o this 6,000 hectare reserve

was based on earlier research ndings by a team o biologists rom

illiman University that identied several unique and threatened

pecies o plants and animals in the orest. These included

dipterocarps orest species, Philippine tube-nosed ruit bat, Negros

arictic hornbill, and the Negros cave rog.

From contract stewardship certicates to orest wardens

orest protection in Camalandaan, as now carried out through

CAFA, built on the oundations o the existing community-based

orest management programme in which residents held contract

tewardship certicates. Local armers had succeeded in orming

closely-knit community organization. Famers living alongside

orested land were acutely aware o the services derived rom them,

nd o their responsibility to conserve them. Existing contract

teward certicate-holders were enlisted as orest wardens o the

outhern Cauayan Municipal Forest and Watershed Reserve.

Bantay Lasang members received trained not only on wildlie

monitoring, but also on the paralegal techniques or apprehending

nd convicting poachers and the transgressors o community zoning

aws. This training included exposure to wildlie surveys dealing

with the identication o dipterocarp trees, aviauna, herpetoauna,

nd mammal species. The project also helped build local capacity

n monitoring, evaluation and preparing technical reports. Several

members o the Bantay Lasang were trained in administrative

work, including entering eld observations and simple data into

omputers.

Forest wardens identied key points along the orest corridors

were requently used by timber poachers. These entry and exit p

were assigned to Bantay Lasang members living close to the are

monitoring. Aluminium signboards were set up along these ro

prohibiting wildlie collection in the area. The Bantay Lasang

marked mature trees using paint to deter timber poachers. Ma

trees were mapped using GPS readings and checked during re

bio-monitoring activities.

Providing orest wardens with communication equipment was

an essential step in improving their capacity to protect the o

Wardens were provided with radio transceivers, and a netwo

relay communication was established to allow sucient coverasignals in the area. The communication system proved so efe

that the local government unit made use o it to communicate

remote areas in the Cauayan municipality. The project also inve

in aerial antennae to bolster signals and installed a solar pan

charge radio transceivers.

Ecosystem and orest restoration

Thanks to these eforts, the CAFA Bantay Lasang has mainta

the ecosystem services provided by the watershed, bene

both upland and downstream communities. Endemic oral,

mammal, amphibian and reptile species have been conse

within these orest areas. Illegal activities within the orest have minimized. A study ound that the Bantay Lasang has signic

reduced timber poaching by 80%. This is indicated by evidenc

plant regeneration and reduction o gaps between orest ragm

rom satellite imagery and ground observations. Abando

clearings have also begun to regenerate into secondary orest.

In an efort to give armers with economic incentives to protec

orest, community members have been encouraged to protec

mother trees that produce seedlings or reorestation project

the local seedling market. In return, armers are allowed to co


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a portion o the naturally generated seedlings or community

ree nurseries. Two such tree nurseries have been set up or a

rainorestation arming project, in which native species are planted

on armland to increase productivity. One nursery has been set

up near the seed source to provide saplings or local tree-planting

activities, while a second smaller nursery was set up closer tobaranguay headquarters where it is more accessible or vehicles.

The second nursery has also served as a distribution center or trees

and endemic plants to the local population.

Reorestation has helped to expand riparian corridors and increase

otal orest cover within the reserve. Tree-planting has also been

conducted along roadsides, preventing soil erosion on the hilly karst

andscape.

Environmental education and awareness-raising

An activity that has underpinned orest protection and reorest

programs has been community awareness-raising on endang

species and the need or conservation. Clearing orest or arm

plots, charcoal burning, and poaching were all common prac

during the 1980s, and the association has had to campextensively to change behaviours and attitudes to the a

natural resources. Means o raising awareness have inclu

public consultations, house-to-house inormation campaigns

illustrated poster calendars.

Community awareness-raising eforts have benetted since

rom the presence o a ull-time community organizer empl

by the project using unding rom the ASEAN Regional Centr

Biodiversity Conservation. The community organizer prom

biodiversity conservation in the local community. Employi

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Community members participate in a tree planting exercise. At least 75% o endemic seedlings are used in the reorestation eforts o the gro

while the remaining 25% are sold to raise unds or the Camalandaan Agroorest Farmers Association and the Bantay Lasang. Tree planting h

ocussed on riparian corridors and along roadsides to prevent soil erosion in the hilly landscape. Source: Ely Alcala.


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articipatory approach, the project has identied all stakeholders

n the area and actively involved a large percentage o the local

ommunity in orest protection. The project has engaged two local

rimary and secondary schools in the dissemination and promotion

wildlie protection materials. One primary school was provided

with a computer that contained locally-produced sotware programs

n the themes o environment and wildlie. These schools are

eriodically provided with reading materials, including publications

rom the HARIBON Foundation. As a result o this project, one o therimary schools won an award as one o the leading environment-

riendly schools in its division.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

undamental to improved conservation have been the numerous

mprovements in the social and economic wellbeing o Camalandaan

illagers.

and tenure security and womens empowerment

Chie amongst these has been improved land tenure security or the

ommunity. Prior to 2003, lack o an ocial tenure regime meant that

Camalandaan armers were orced to squat illegally on public land.

his let them open to orced ejection by the government. With no

ong-term tenure security and ew incentives to make investments

n long-term sustainable land management practices, armers would

lear the land or short-term gain and high-return cultivation. Owing

o lobbying eforts by CAFA, these armers are now recognised as

enured migrants, despite living inside areas ocially classied as

ublic orest lands. The community has efectively been granted

and tenure security in return or their participation in biodiversity

onservation and environmental management.

Womens land rights have also improved substantially. Thismprovement was a unction o explicit and thoughtul consideration

y the project in how agricultural zones were demarcated. Women

ommunity members also serve as active members o the orest

warden teams, and as members o the association, while the

ssociations womens committee has ormed the Barangay Council

or Women as part o the local government authority. These

mprovements in gender equality have been supported by public

normation sessions and workshops on amily reproductive health,

ttended by a large number o community members.

Service delivery and resh water provision

Another positive impact resulting rom CAFA work has beenmprovements in the delivery o basic public services to a population

hat has been historically isolated and marginalized. Located in an

pland area that is more than 30 kilometres inland rom a highway,

he village o Camalandaan lacked basic inrastructure in health,

ducation and electricity. CAFA work has provided the community

with legitimacy and visibility, and attracted the attention o both

he government and private sector partners. With this attention

ave come investments in community development projects and

ssistance with public works.

he community initiative has also motivated longer-term land use

decisions and investments, which have in turn restored na

ecosystem service delivery. Greater tree cover has trans

to improved water quality within the watershed. Strategic

planting in degraded areas and the establishment o rip

reserves have helped to mitigate soil erosion and the cloggin

rivers and creeks. In the uture, a water use ee or downstr

communities will be introduced, as watershed improvements

benetted the river systems used or domestic water supply

irrigation by these arming communities. This ee will be integrin charges or irrigation and water supply organizations, and

serve as an additional source o unds or the urther conservatio

the watershed in the uplands area.

Landscape-scale improvements in environmental managem

have also increased the capacity o the Camalandaan comm

to adapt to unpredictable weather conditions. Management o

watershed helps to mitigate against sudden ooding during

rainy season, and against the depletion o water reserves during

dry season. In this way, the work o CAFA has helped to boost

communitys resilience to uture threats posed by climate chan

POLICY IMPACTSCAFA has successully lobbied or the passage o local legisla

The area under community management has been declar

Forest and Watershed Reserve. In addition, the area has been le

delineated as alling under community management. The Sout

Cauayan Municipal Forest and Watershed Reserve is the rst o

kind to be initiated in south-western Negros by a local governm

unit using the countrys Local Government Code as an enabling

ramework. This also heralded the introduction o improved te

security or the communitys armers, a hugely signicant ste

local development and conservation eforts.

A multi-agency watershed management board, which is directe

community members but includes government entities, is ta

with overseeing the conservation o the watershed area. As pa

this efort, the volunteer orest warden teams are now recognize

the government as an ocial arm in orest law enorcement an

the implementation o local legislation.

One characteristic o the Bantay Lasang that has made it particu

efective is its strong leadership and motivated member

These organizational traits have earned the group the cond

o local residents, the local government, and the local oc

the Department o Environment and Natural Resources. St

leadership at the community level has spilled over into leadecapacity at the local government level. In recent barangay elect

several CAFA members were promoted to leading posit

including as punong barangay or barangay captain. This

between community-based action and local government has

integral or orest protection.

Bantay Lasang members report directly to the mayors oc

turn, members are deputized by the mayor and provincial gove

cutting out potential bureaucratic constraints that could inte

on-going orest protection activities.

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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYhe orest warden project is still largely in its ormative phase,

aving been initiated in 2005. Many o the project components

were only made operational in 2006 and 2007. However, the act

hat legislation has been passed and is being enorced with the

ctive participation o the community helps ensure its sustainability.

hrough the project, CAFA has been urther consolidated, and now

ncludes about 90% o the community as its members. The basis o

he project in the communitys work since 1983 is urther proo o its

rganisational capacity and resilience.

n terms o ecological and nancial sustainability, CAFA hopes thatocal tree arms will gradually reduce (and ultimately eliminate)

ommunity dependence on natural orests or ood and livelihood

eeds. The tree arms are being developed to provide CAFA members

with sustainable livelihoods while also maintaining and improving

he ecological unctions o the watershed. Within ve years, it is

oped that most i not all o the presently degraded portions o bufer

ones and other arms that are not ideal or annual crop production

about 2,000 hectares in total will be converted into tree arms.

he collection o water use charges rom downstream users will

lso augment the income o the association members and will be

nvested into training activities, technology transer, procurement o

quipment and tools, and as unds or additional projects, such as

cotourism.

PARTNERS

he Silliman University Andrew King Center or Research and

nvironmental Management (SUAKCREM) has conducted numerous

iological studies within the Camalandaan watershed area. The

artnership between CAFA and the institute began in 2004 when

iologists were deployed to the area, and has greatly contributed

o improved local capacities in conducting biological studies, and

ncreased awareness biodiversity in the area. The nancial and

technical assistance o the Haribon Foundation and ASEAN Reg

Centre or Biodiversity Conservation has contributed signican

this partnership.

The Binhi Sang Kauswagan Foundation has acilitated cap

building or CAFA, particularly in the elds o leadership, nance

project management, inormation and education campaigns

networking and advocacy. The oundation began working in

area in 2000, and has contributed to the continuous developm

and strengthening o the leadership and membership o

organization. In 2007, the Philippine Tropical Forest Conserva

Foundation contributed nancial support or the establishme

150 hectares o tree arms.

Government partners include the local governments o Bara

Camalandaan, the Municipality o Cauayan, the Province o Ne

Occidental, and the national Department o Environment

Natural Resources. At the local, municipal, provincial, and nat

levels, government authorities have made signicant contribu

o human, nancial, and technical assistance which have helpe

sustain the organization, resulting in the adoption o governm

regulations supporting the allocation and management o reso

in the area.


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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change

onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

URTHER REFERENCE

Alcala E., Hisona J., Dulla J., and Velasco J. B. 2007. Collaboration Among an Academic Institution, Local Communities and Local Governm

Units in Protecting Wildlie and Forest Habitats in Southwestern Negros Island, Philippines.Silliman Journal. Vol. 48: No.2. pp.71-80.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348161612.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348160384.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348162144.pdf

case studies undp: camalandaan agroforestry farmers' association, philippines

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