This presentation was delivered at the third Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2016, in Clark Freeport Zone, Philippines.
The five sub-thematic streams at APFW 2016 included:
Pathways to prosperity: Future trade and markets
Tackling climate change: challenges and opportunities
Serving society: forestry and people
New institutions, new governance
Our green future: green investment and growing our natural assets
Forest Development Planning for Climate Change Resilience and Poverty Reduction
1. Forest Development Planning for
Climate Change Resilience and
Poverty Reduction
(PROFOR: Assessing the Role of forests in reducing poverty
and enhancing climate resilience in the Philippines)
Presented by:
DR. MERCEDITA A. SOMBILLA
Director of NEDA-ANRES
24 February 2016, WIDUS Hotel and Casino, Clark
2. Outline of Presentation
I. Natural Wealth of the Philippines
II. 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan (PDP):
Chapter 9 on Sustainable and climate – resilient
ENR
III.Natural Capital Accounting (NCA)
IV.Phil-WAVES vis-à-vis PROFOR
V. Utility of NCA to Policy, Planning and Programming
Processes: Results of Phil-WAVES and PROFOR
VI. Moving Forward on NCA
3. I. Natural Wealth of the Philippines
Figure 1. Wealth of the Philippines ($ per capita, 2010 estimates)
5. II. 2011-2016 PDP Midterm Update
SECTOR
OUTCOME
Sustainable and climate – resilient ENR
achieved
SUB–SECTOR
OUTCOMES
Adaptive capacities
of human
communities
improved
Adaptive capacities
of human
communities
improved
Sustainably
managed
natural
resources
achieved
Sustainably
managed
natural
resources
achieved
Environmental quality
improved for a
healthier and cleaner
environment
Environmental quality
improved for a
healthier and cleaner
environment
•Improve management systems and tools
•Strengthen Multi-stakeholder participation and partnership in the
ENR Management and governance
•Continuous capacity building, institutional strengthening and IEC
campaign
•Improve management systems and tools
•Strengthen Multi-stakeholder participation and partnership in the
ENR Management and governance
•Continuous capacity building, institutional strengthening and IEC
campaign
CROSS-
CUTTING
STRATEGIES
6. III. Natural Capital Accounting (NCA)
GDP estimation does not include what happens to Natural Capital,
as follows:
Source: Stefanie Sieber Presentation on NCA, World Bank
7. IV. Phil-WAVES vis-à-vis PROFOR
Focus Phil-WAVES PROFOR
1. Pilot Sites • National for mineral and mangroves
• Two pilot sites in Southern Palawan
and Laguna de Bay
Three study sites namely:
Upper Marikina
Libmanan-Pulantuna
Watersheds and Agusan
River Basin
2. Methodology • System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012
3. Model/
Mapping
Tools
Land - ArcGIS
Water- Hydrology and Hydrodynamics Model of the
LLDA Decision Support System (DSS), Hymos 4, Delft 3D
Model
Ecosystem Condition- Water Mondriaan
Model,Bathymetry model, Waste load model, Revised
Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), Look-up Tables
(LUT) and ArcGIS model Builder
Ecosystem Service - SedNet Model, Simple spreadsheet
model, Hydrologic Engineering Center - Hydrologic
Modeling System model (HEC-HMS)
• Soil and Water
Assessment Tool
(SWAT) in ArcGIS
(ArcSWAT)
• SedNet Model
• PRECIS model
8. III. Phil-WAVES vis-à-vis PROFOR
Focus Phil-WAVES PROFOR
4. Outputs • Macroeconomic indicators
• National Asset Accounts for
Minerals and Mangrove (physical
and monetary)
• Ecosystem Accounts for Southern
Palawan and Laguna Lake Basin
(physical and monetary)
• Forest use analysis
• Ecosystem Service Modelling
• Ecosystem Services Valuation
Scenario Analysis under Policy
Analysis
Scenario Analysis of different
development options
Training on System of National
Accounts (SNA), SEEA,
Ecosystem/Environment Accounting
Training on Ecosystem
/Environment Accounting
Communication Strategy Stakeholder engagement
10. Guide the formulation of development plans and policies towards
sustainable development
-Provides assessment of the effectiveness of policy instruments/issuances on forest
resources management (e.g., EO 23 – Logging Moratorium, EO 26 – NGP EO 193 –
NGP expansion)
-Provides possible recommendation on management strategies to address gaps in
forest resources management, particularly focusing on the gaps identified in the
assessment of the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP)
- Provides criteria for selection of NGP sites (e.g., inclusion of highly vulnerable areas
and match species and spacing)
Guide proper valuation of resources
- Provides an evidence-based/quantitative analysis of the value of forest
ecosystem services with respect to its contribution to poverty reduction and
employment generation of resource-dependent communities
Guide identification of development options/activities vis trade-offs
- Guide future investments in forestry
V. Utility of NCA in Policy, Planning and
Programming Processes
11. 1. Need to harmonize and consolidate the results from studies and
programs/projects on NCA, ecosystem/environment valuation and
natural resource assessment in terms of methodology in
accounting and valuation and coordinate its results with PSA:
- Ecotown Project in Upper Marikina River Basin
- Capturing Coral Reef & Related Ecosystem Services (CCRES)
- Economic Evaluation of Tropical Forest Land Use Options: A review of methodology,
applications and lessons (Chokkalingam, 2006)
- Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of Reforestation Farming in Leyte, Island, Philippines
(Kiffner 2005)
2. Institutionalization of Results
- linking the results of programs, projects and studies to national database through PSA,
which will be improved over time
- standardization/harmonization of accounting/valuation methods
3. Continuous Capacity building on SEEA, SNA, NCA and valuation
methods
VI. Moving Forward on NCA
My presentation will follow this outline:
Philippine Economy
Natural Capital Accounting
Phil-WAVES vis-à-vis PROFOR
Utility of NCA to Policy, Planning and Programming Processes
Moving Forward for NCA
Initial estimates suggest that natural capital accounts for about 15 percent (15%) of the Philippines’ total wealth in 2010 (World Bank, 2014). As indicated in Figure 1, agricultural land accounts for the highest proportion (69%), followed by pasture land (16%), subsoil assets , and minerals. Only more than three percent from timber and non- timber forest products.
While the forest and non-timber forest product (NTFP) have very little monetary contribution in the national wealth, the forestry sector plays an important role as it:
Provides goods and services that are essential to support critical growth sectors (e.g., agriculture, industries, water supply and energy sector);
(ii) Provides protection to risks posed by climate change and natural disasters; and
(iii) Supports more than 20 Million upland communities.
The 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan (PDP) underscores the importance of maintaining ecological integrity as among the foundation to support economic sectors and create employment opportunities.
In particular, Chapter 9 on Sustainable and climate – resilient ENR highlights the importance of improving the state of our natural resources, particularly the forestry sector. Among the strategies identified in the PDP to sustainably manage forest resources are:
Strengthen the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), reforestation and forest protection programs, and sustainable forest-based industries;
Strengthen the enforcement of forest, land, biodiversity, coastal and marine policies;
Implement innovative financing mechanisms/options for effective and efficient ENR management; and
Integrate ecosystem values into national accounts through Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES).
To be able to properly account and value ecosystem services, the government embarks in the implementation of national capital accounting (NCA) to explicitly take into account the economic benefits from ENR (i.e., provisioning, regulatory, supporting and cultural). These tools are essential to measure the contribution of ENR to the economy vis-a-vis poverty alleviation and employment generation.
In late 2013, the National Economic and Development Authority implemented the Wealth Accounting and Ecosystem Services (WAVES) in collaboration with Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)/Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), and Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) with support from the World Bank.
This slide provides the linkage of focus areas of the Phil-WAVES and expected outputs of the PROFOR study, as follows:
Pilot sites. In terms of study sites, Phil-WAVES covers both national and two pilot sites - Southern Palawan Laguna de Bay). On the other hand, PROFOR looks into three watersheds/river basin level
Methodology. In terms of the methodology, both Phil-WAVES and PROFOR made use of the 2012 System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) Framework.
Modeling and Mapping Tools. A number of modelling and mapping tools were employed by Phil-WAVES and PROFOR. This is due to the complex nature of the ecosystems that availability of existing and recorded data remains a challenge. As shown in the table, both utilized ArcGIS and Sediment River Network (SedNet) model to analyze the ecosystem services of a particular study site.
4. Outputs. With regard to the outputs, the main focus of Phil-WAVES is on account and macroeconomic indicator development. While PROFOR focused on ecosystem services valuation based on the results of the forest use analysis and ecosystem service modeling.
Both projects are expected to (i) develop scenario analysis of different development options; (ii) provide trainings; and (iii) communicate the results of the projects through development of knowledge products
As mentioned earlier, one major expected output of the Phil-WAVES project is the development of ecosystem accounts that encompasses the modeling and up-scaling of information across all types of ecosystems in Southern Palawan and Laguna de Bay. This is to advance and test SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting framework in integrating the ecosystem condition, ecosystem services, and ecosystem asset/capacity.
This slide shows, that while PROFOR did not intend to develop accounts it complements Phil-WAVES in terms of studying the ecosystems flows and stocks, particularly for forest ecosystem. Among the ecosystem services that were covered in Phil-WAVES and PROFOR are highlighted in red. Those in green are ecosystem services that are covered in PROFOR but not in Phil-WAVES. Those in blue are the other ecosystem accounts in Phil-WAVES but not covered in PROFOR.
Legend:
Thematic accounts contain information on land cover, land use, water stocks and changes therein
Ecosystem condition measures the physical condition of ecosystems and trends in condition
Ecosystem asset measures the ability of ecosystems to generate ecosystem services under current ecosystem conditions and uses
Ecosystem services measures flows of ecosystem services (i.e., provisioning, regulating, cultural), per land cover/ecosystem unit and how ecosystem services are used by beneficiaries
The Philippines, as one of the countries committed to sustainable development (SD), recognizes the importance of mainstreaming natural capital accounting to help determine the sustainable use of environment and natural resources (ENR) and inform development planning and policy analysis. In fact, the integration of ecological values into national accounts through WAVES is included as a priority strategy in the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
For this reason, the Phil-WAVES and PROFOR including other related studies on valuation of ecosystem services will to help the government address demand for ENR indicators, tools, and methodologies. Specifically, these initiatives will:
First, guide the formulation of development plans and policies towards sustainable development. The country’s 2011-2016 PDP stipulated that the environment and natural resources (ENR) policy is critical to achieving the country’s twin goals of poverty reduction and inclusive growth. NCA helps identify more appropriate indicators to inform the three development pillars (i.e., social, economic, and environment).
Second, guide proper valuation of resources including the impacts of economic activities on the resource stocks and environmental quality. NCA helps determine benefits and losses from the use of natural resources which should be accounted for in evaluating the performance of the economy. Indicators to be identified for the NCA will help update and improve the compilation of natural and environment statistics/data including providing monetary values to previously unvalued ecosystem goods and services. This intends to benefit the communities that are dependent on natural resources.
Lastly, guide the identification of development options/activities vis-à-vis trade-offs. NCA will be very useful to weigh the gains and trade-offs of development interventions to properly manage the different uses of the environment and natural resources (e.g. instruments that would guide land use and zoning plans, or help identify most effective pollution control measures).
As a number of NCA, ecosystem/environment valuation and natural resource assessment are completed, on-going and being conceptualized, there is a need to:
Harmonize and consolidate the results from studies and programs/projects on NCA, ecosystem/environment valuation and natural resource assessment in terms of methodology in accounting and valuation and coordinate its results with PSA. Example of these initiatives include:
- Ecotown Project in Upper Marikina River Basin. A project supported by the Asian Development Bank and financed through Climate Change Fund aims to enhance the climate resilience and green growth in the Upper Marikina River Basin. One of the expected outputs of the project is the collection of baseline information, and assessment of vulnerability to climate change. Under this output, an economic valuation of natural resources and ecosystem services of the project site has been undertaken to develop a physical and economic accounts. For the physical account the following sectors have been considered: agriculture, forestry, coastal and marine ecosystem. While for the monetary accounting the following services were considered: infrastructure, ecotourism and biodiversity.
- Capturing Coral Reef & Related Ecosystem Services (CCRES). The project focused on the quantification of the value and market potential of coral reef and mangrove ecosystem services.
- Economic Evaluation of Tropical Forest Land Use Options: A review of methodology, applications and lessons (Chokkalingam, 2006). The study looks into the reforestation initiatives in selected areas in the Philippines. It also provides policy recommendations on effectively implementing and sustaining forest rehabilitation in the Philippines.
- Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of Reforestation Farming in Leyte, Island, Philippines (Kiffner 2005). The study compares the costs and benefits of two agro forestry sites in Leyte, Island Philippines. This study also looks into the effectiveness of agro forestry between abaca plantation.
Institutionalization of Results
- linking the results of programs, projects and studies to national database through PSA, which will be improved over time
- standardization/harmonization of accounting/valuation methods
3. Continuous Capacity building on SEEA, SNA, NCA and valuation methods