NGP Summit: Revisiting the Implementation of the National Greening Program

On February 24, 2011, the Philippine government launched the National Greening Program, which aims to plant 1.5 billion seedlings in 1.5 million hectares of public lands all over the country from 2011 to 2016. To ensure the proper implementation of the program, in terms of the use of native tree species and the involvement of the local communities, RFRI decided to engage in a dialogue with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. These discussions brought about the Partnership Agreement between DENR, and FPE and PTFCF (for RFRI and the Civil Society Organizations), signed on February 20, 2012, marking one of the biggest efforts between the national government and the civil society group towards forest restoration in the country. Under the agreement, RFRI will mobilize their respective community partners to produce and plant native tree species in areas mutually identified by the parties. The DENR, on the other hand, will undertake to pay the community partners for whatever seedlings they produce, plant and maintain. Furthermore, the parties shall jointly prepare the annual work and financial plan, and monitor and evaluate the implementation of the agreement starting 2013, with the intention of creating a roadmap towards the complete use of Philippine native species in all reforestation efforts in the country in 2016 onwards. Two years into the signing of the agreement, the Summit aims to assess the implementation of the National Greening Program and the Partnership Agreement, to consolidate accomplishments, to identify the facilitating and hindering factors, as well as the gaps in implementation, and to draft recommendations for more effective field implementation.