Soil Information as a Reforestation Decision-Making Tool and Its Implication for Forest Management in the Philippines

• Main Authors: Navarrete, Ian A, Peque, D P, Macabuhay, M D
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2018
• Subjects: Carbon sequestration; Degraded soil; Exotic species; Reforestation; Site quality; Environmental Sciences; Forest Sciences; Soil Science
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/es-faculty-pubs/88; https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-8881-0_5
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Over the last 2 decades, the Philippine government has devoted a considerable amount of resources to the rehabilitation and reforestation of degraded forest land. However, deforestation and forest degradation have continued to be a major environmental problem in the Philippines as vast forest cover is lost annually. While large-scale reforestation projects have been initiated, most have been far from successful. This chapter argues that soil is the single most important factor affecting survival, growth, and development of trees and thus, influence the success of reforestation programs. Within the context of the Philippines, it analyzes soil factors that limits the success of reforestation projects and discusses the use of exotic and native tree species in reforestation. Finally, it presents current research and development efforts to reforest degraded forest land, particularly the National Greening Program, and the role of the reforestation program on soil carbon sequestration.