Industry Strategic Science and Technology Plans (ISPs) Platform

Valuing Ecosystem Services: Sustainable Financing Options for Bataan National Park

The Bataan National Park (BNP), a protected area of 20,004 hectares (ha), is home to the Province of Bataanā€™s old-growth forests. While BNP is a protected area, there is an intense pressure on its natural resources due to illegal settlement and resource use. From 2010 to 2015, the parkā€™s built-up areas doubled mainly because of migrants establishing settlements near their farm (DENR 2020). The Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) also observed that the parkā€™s environmental degradation is fueled by human activities, such as the development of agricultural plantations, ā€˜kaingin,ā€™ and illegal cutting of trees.

To restore the BNP to its pristine state, an intensive conservation effort is needed. Hence, various sustainable financing options are proposed, including the development of enterprises capitalizing on legally allowed and commercially-viable bioresources, gradual increase in park entrance fees, and payment for ecosystem services (PES) by both on-site and off-site households.

Ā  Ā  Recommendations/Ways Forward

The BNP has seen environmental degradation, but it is not yet too late to restore and conserve it. Thus, the following efforts are proposed to initiate a financially sustainable conservation program.

Enterprise Development and Business Planning

Protected area occupants can be organized into groups that can make sustainable businesses out of legally-allowed bioresources. Existing policies that allow sustainable use of bioresources for holders of tenure instruments, such as the Protected Area Community-based Resource Management Agreement and the National Greening Program contracts are available for tenured occupants. Government agencies can partner with the private sector to develop the productsā€™ business aspect from these areas. Development of a detailed management and harvesting plan following the principle of sustained-yield, transparency in resource extraction, and proper monitoring is essential to prevent overuse and damage to the environment.

Institutionalize PES

Given the significant values of non-marketed benefits that forest ecosystems provide, it is feasible to fund the conservation program through developing payment for ecosystem services. The academe, national government agencies, and non-government organizations can conduct action research to support PES implementation. Valuation of other ecosystem services, such as water provision, should be done. BNP has abundant water resources with values that may also be tapped for the protected areaā€™s sustainable financing.

Capacitate Protected Area Occupants

Human activities have been identified as a major cause of BNPā€™s environmental degradation. However, treating occupants as culprits or ignoring their existence will not solve the ecological problems arising from their dependence on the parkā€™s natural resources. Providing protected area occupants with forest protection functions and sustainable livelihood opportunities will replace destructive activities. Thus, it will mutually benefit both the protected area management and occupants. Further, the establishment of a conservation program with a livelihood component will empower them as responsible partners in forest conservation.

This policy brief is based on results of the PCAARRD-funded project ā€œValuing Bioresources and Recreational Services for Access and Benefit Sharing and Payment for Ecosystem Services: The Case of Bataan National Park.ā€ The project was implemented by the Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Environment Management of the University of the Philippines Los BaƱos (UPLB) in partnership with the Protected Area Management Office of BNP, Department of Environment and Natural Resourcesā€”Region III, and the Biodiversity Management Bureau. The (UPLB) project team was composed of Dr. Juan M. Pulhin, Dr. Canesio D. Predo, Dr. Asa Jose U. Sajise, Dr. Catherine C. De Luna and Ms. Arielle R. Fajardo.

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