STRAIGHT FROM THE BIG CITY

Mono-culture vs bio-diverse forests
IKE SEÑERES

MANILA -- A debate is now raging in the media on the pros and cons of planting renewable feedstock for bio-fuel production. Proponents of bio-fuels claim that there is really no issue about losing agricultural lands to bio-plants, because they say that they are going to utilize vacant lands, instead of using the existing farm lands.

As I see it however, the real issue is not whether or not vacant lands will be used. The real issue I think is whether or not to grow bio-plants using the mono-culture approach, or the bio-diversity approach. This is not the first time that the issue has cropped up in our midst, because we have already seen how soils die after continuous planting to rice, a problem that has awakened us to the need for multi-cropping, also known as mixed cropping.

In the provinces of Agusan Del Norte and Agusan del Sur, there is a popular myth that the Gemelina tree variety is no good, because it depletes the soil. As it now turns out, it is mono-culture that is to blame, and not the tree variety itself.

An American named Joseph J. Reynolds has successfully developed a vacant property in Occidental Mindoro into a bio-diverse forest, and his project now stands as a solid proof that large volumes of desired tree varieties could be produced in a mix of many other varieties, in effect avoiding mono-culture.

The logic behind the Reynolds project is actually very simple, because it simply restores a previously denuded area back into its original condition, back to what God had made it to be, so to speak. Just as the commercial loggers of yesteryears were able to harvest large volumes of trees in the natural forests before, Reynolds is able to do the same thing now, albeit in a man made forest now, made the natural way.

Adding to the appeal of the Reynolds approach is the fact that the existing residents of the denuded areas are the same people that he hired to become the tree farmers and caretakers of the project. These people now actually receive salaries for their work, even while the trees are still growing, but on top of that, they also get a share of the harvest, as if they are part owners of the tree farm. For the first time in my life, Reynolds was able to convince me that it is possible to restore a lost forest to its original, natural form. Hopefully, his model could be replicated nationwide.
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I am very much impressed by the development work that the Canadian Executive Service Organization-Business Advisory Program (CESO-BAP) has done in the Philippines for the past three years. Working closely with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the Canadians recently turned over the program management to the latter; hence it will continue from now on as the PBSP-BAP.

I saw in the BAP experience a working model of effective cooperation between an embassy, a foundation, several local governments and a good number of beneficiaries. Inspired by the model, I see that it could still be improved by bringing in the universities as development partners, and this is where I think the University Consortium for Resource Networking (UNICORN) could have a role to play.

By doing this, I think that it would form a complete supply chain of cooperation between and among embassies, foundations, universities, local governments and beneficiaries. Over the years, I have seen a trend wherein embassies are now working through foundations to deliver and implement development programs, bringing in the local governments as well as cooperators.
While it is true that foundations could very well hire their own people to work as local operators, the universities have the advantage of having qualified people who are already working locally.

As I see it, the prospective involvement of universities in the delivery of development programs would have a win-win effect, because they could use the extra income from more professional engagements, aside from the added advantage of having a sustainable source of dependable program staffers. Starting with a member school in Quezon City , UNICORN is going to implement a community-based waste recycling project in cooperation with the local government, which at the same time would create livelihood opportunities for beneficiaries coming from the local community.

Following a model developed by Municipality of Los Baños , the project will exchange recyclables with coupons that are redeemable in cash or kind. Sad to say, this appears to be the only approach that could encourage popular cooperation, after seeing that voluntary or optional compliance has not worked over the years. As an innovation, the school will accept the coupons as credits in payment of tuitions.