FOREST STATISTICS

• Species of flora and fauna in 1 has. of Philippine Forests is

equivalent to the species of entire Europe

Philippine forests 7.2 M has or 24% of land

areas
Closed canopy 38%
Open forests 56%
Mangrove 2%
Plantations 4%
 STATISTICS ON FOREST
DESTRUCTION
200,000 has. Annually
P11.9 B loss yearly
Completely denuded by 2025

CAUSES
Logging (legal and illegal)
Mining
Geothermal plants
Dam Construction
Agriculture
Rapid Population
 GOVERNING LAW
• P.D 705, otherwise known as the
Issued on May 19, 1975
• It repeals P.D No. 389 or the
, C.A No. 452 or the and
all other laws, orders, rules and regulations or any
part thereof which are inconsistent therewith.
 of forest resources

Protection, rehabilitation and

development of forest lands
 STATE POLICY
a) The shall be
oriented to the development and progress
requirements of the country, the advancement of
science and technology, and the public welfare;
shall be
;
c) The
shall be ; and

of forest lands shall be

so as to ensure their continuity in productive
condition
 MULTIPLE LAND USE
• The Whereas clauses and declaration of policies of
state:

“Whereas proper
of the lands of the public domain to maximize
their productivity to meet the demands of our increasing
population is urgently needed;

Whereas to achieve the above purpose, it is necessary to

and
resources before allowing any utilization thereof to optimize
the benefits that can be derived therefrom.”
• RA No. 7942 or the gives a mining
contractor the right to enter a timber concession and cut
timber therein

• Section 18 of RA No. 7942 permits mining over forest lands

, and PD No. 705
itself allows mining over forest lands and forest reservations

• Section 19 (a) of RA No. 7942 provides that mineral activities

may be allowed even over military and other government
reservations
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
is the mass of lands of the public
domain which has not been the subject of the present
system of classification for the determination of which
lands are needed for forest purposes and which are
not.
refer to
those lands of the public domain which have been the
subject of the present system of classification and
determined to be needed for forest purposes.
refers to those lands
of the public domain which have been the subject of
the present system of classification and declared as not
needed for forest purposes.
include the public forest, the permanent
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
refers to that portion of the public
domain which has been set aside, in view of the
sustainability of it typography and vegetation, for
the raising of livestock.
refer to those lands of the public
domain which have been classified as such by the
Secretary of Natural Resources in accordance with
prescribed and approved criteria, guidelines and
procedure.
refer to forest lands which
have been reserved by the President of the
Philippines for any specific purpose or purposes.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
refers to a forest land
reservation essentially of primitive or
wilderness character which has been
withdrawn from settlement or occupancy
and set aside as such exclusively to
, the
and the therein, and to
provide enjoyment of these features in such
a manner as will leave them for
future generations.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
refers to a forest land
designated for the protection of game animals, birds and
fish, and closed to hunting and fishing in order that the
excess population may flow and restock the surrounding
areas.
refers to any off-shore area inhabited by
rare and unique species of marine flora and fauna
refers to any public shore are delimited for
outdoor recreation, sports fishing, water skiing and related
healthful activities.
is a forest land reservation
established to protect or improve the conditions of the
water yield thereof or reduce sedimentation.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
is a land area drained by a stream or fixed
body of water and its tributaries having a common outlet
for surface run-off.

is a drainage area of a river system

supporting existing and proposed hydro-electric power and
irrigation works needing immediate rehabilitation as it is
being subjected to a fast denudation causing accelerated
erosion and destructive floods.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
is a term applied to the type of forest
occurring on tidal flat along the sea coast,
extending along streams where the water is
brackish.

is a portion of a forest land, whether

occupied or not , which is subjected to shifting
and/or permanent slash-and-burn cultivation having
little or no provision to prevent soil erosion.
BAKHAWAN
MANGROVE
Forest Aklibo,
Aklan
KAINGIN
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
means timber, pulpwood,
firewood, bark, tree top, resin, gum, wood, oil,
honey, beeswax, nipa, rattan, or other forest
growth such as grass, shrub, and flowering plant,
the associated water, fish, game, scenic, historical,
recreational and geological resources in forest
lands.
is any tract of forest
land purposely and extensively planted timber
crops primarily to supply the raw material
requirements of existing or proposed processing
plants and related industries.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
refers to any tract of forest land
purposely and extensively planted to trees of
economic value for their fruits, flowers, leaves,
barks or extractives, but not for the wood thereof.
means the systematic removal
of the mature, over-mature and defective trees in
such manner as to leave adequate number and
volume of healthy residual trees of the desired
species necessary to assure a future crop of timber,
and forest cover for the protection and
conservation of soil and water.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
is a privilege granted by the State to a person to
occupy and possess, in consideration of a specified
rental, any forest land of the public domain in order to
undertake any authorized activity therein.

is a privilege granted by the State to a person to

utilize forest resources as in any forest land,
over the same, to the
exclusion of the others, or establish and operation a
wood-processing plant or conduct any activity involving
the utilization of any forest resources.
 is a privilege granted by the
State to a person to utilize forest resources within
any forest land
n thereof to the exclusion of the others,
except the government, but with the
corresponding obligation to develop, protect and
rehabilitate the same in accordance with the terms
and conditions set forth in said agreement.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
is a short-term privilege or authority
granted by the State to a person to utilize any
limited forest resources or undertake a limited
activity with any forest land without any right of
occupation and possession therein.
means the ecological community
considered together with non-living factors and
its environment as a unit.
is the establishment,
development, reproduction and care of forest
trees.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
means or refers to
under existing laws, and in the case
of primitive tribes, to rights of possession existing
at the time a license is granted under the Code,
which possession may include places of abode and
worship, burial grounds, and old clearings, but
excludes production forest inclusive of logged-
over areas, commercial forests and established
plantations of forest trees and trees of economic
value.
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND
NATURAL RESOURCES; MANDATE
It is the policy of the State to ensure:

The as well as the

judicious disposition, utilization, management, renewal
and conservation of the country’s forest, mineral, land,
waters, fisheries, wildlife, off-shore areas and other
natural resources.

a sound ecological balance and

and the quality of the
environment

Objective of making the exploration, development

and utilization of such natural resources
to the different segments of the present
as well as future generations.
 DENR
Primarily responsible for the implementation of the foregoing policy.

Assure the availability and sustainability of the country’s natural resources

through judicious use and systematic restoration or replacement,
whenever possible, and increase the productivity of natural resources in
order to meet the demands for the products from forest, mineral, land
and water resources of a growing population.
 dated June 10, 1987, the DENR
“shall be the responsible
for the

, specifically forest and grazing lands,

mineral resources, including those in reservation and
watershed areas, and lands of the public domain, as
well as the licensing and regulation of all natural
resources as may be provided for by law in order to
of the benefits derived
therefrom for the welfare of the present and future
generations of Filipinos.
 FOREST MANAGEMENT BUREAU
The , the ,
the , and
the , including applicable
appropriations, records, equipment, property and such
personnel as may be necessary, have been merged into a
single agency known as the
(formerly Bureau of Forest Development), hereinafter
referred to as Bureau.
 SUPERVISION
The Bureau is directly under the
of the . Upon recommendation of the
Director of Forest Development, he shall promulgate
rules and regulations necessary to implement the
provisions of the Code.
 REVIEW
All actions and decisions of the Bureau Director are
subject to review, motu proprio or upon appeal of any
person aggrieved thereby,
whose decision shall be after the
lapse of thirty (30) days from the receipt by the
aggrieved party of said decision,
t in accordance with EO No. 19, s. of 1996. The
decision of the DENR Secretary may not be reviewed
by the courts except through a special civil action for
certiorari or prohibition.
 EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE
REMEDIES
The
calls for resort first to the
in the resolution of a controversy falling under their jurisdiction
for review
 JURISDICTION
The Bureau has jurisdiction and authority

presently
administered by other government agencies or instrumentalities.

The Bureau shall regulate the of

sawmills, veneer and plywood mills and other wood processing
plants and conduct studies of domestic and world markets of forest
products.
The for the:
a)
of forest lands;
b) of the operation of
licensees, lessees and permittees for the taking or
use of forest products therefrom or the occupancy
or use thereof;
c) of multiple use and sustained yield
management in forest lands; the protection,
development and preservation of national parks,
marine parks, game refuges and wildlife;
d) The of measures and programs to
prevent kaingin and managed occupancy of forest
and grazing lands;
e) The of
lands of the public domain; and
f) of forestry, reforestation, parks, game
and wildlife laws, rules, and regulations.
 SYSTEM OF LAND CLASSIFICATION
The Department Head shall
the criteria, guidelines and methods for
the
into
agricultural, industrial or commercial, residential,
resettlement, mineral, timber or forest, and grazing
lands, and into such other classes as now or may
hereafter be provided by law, rules and regulations.
 TOPOGRAPHY
No land of the public domain eighteen per cent (18%) in slope
or over shall be classified as alienable and disposable, nor any
forest land fifty per cent (50%) in slope or over, as grazing land.

Lands eighteen per cent (18%) in slope or over which have

already been

, to form part of the forest reserves, unless they are

already covered by existing titles or approved public land
application, or actually occupied openly, continuously,
adversely and publicly for a period of not less than thirty (30)
years as of the effectivity of this Code, where the occupant is
qualified for a free patent under the Public Land Act
 , which are
and actually used for
agricultural, residential, pasture and tree farming
purposes,
. Since ancestral domains and
ancestral lands are private, the IPRA itself converts
ancestral land, regardless of whether or not the
land has a slope of eighteen percent (18%) or over,
from private to public agricultural land for proper
disposition.
 AREAS NEEDED FOR FOREST
PURPOSES
The following lands, in
slope, are needed for forest purposes, and may not, therefore, be
classified as alienable and disposable land, to wit:

c) Areas which have

f) Appropriately
of the
normal high waterline of rivers and streams with channels of
at least five (5) meters wide;
 FOREST LANDS ARE NOT
REGISTRABLE
Until the timber or forest lands are released as disposable and
alienable, neither the Lands Management Bureau nor the
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has authority to
lease, grant, sell or otherwise dispose of these lands for
homesteads, sales patents, leases for grazing or other
purposes, fishpond leases. And other modes of utilization.

as it is
within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Bureau and beyond the
power and jurisdiction of the registration court. (Republic v. CA
and Lastimado)
 Moreover, it is well-settled that a certificate of title is void,
when it covers property of public domain classified as forest or
timber and mineral lands. Any title issued on non-disposable
lots even in the hands of an alleged innocent purchaser for
value, shall be cancelled. (Republic v. CA and Bernabe)

But in the subsequent case of Malabanan v. Republic, the

Supreme Court en banc held that the law does not require that
the land subject of registration should have been alienable and
disposable during the entire period of possession, or since June
12, 1945.
is
filed so as to entitle the possessor to registration.
SUBSTANTIAL CASES
 OPOSA V. FACTORAN
G.R No. 101083. July 30 1993
FACTS:
 A taxpayer’s class suit filed by minors Juan Antonio Oposa, et al.,
representing their generation and generation yet unborn against
Fulgencio Factoran Jr., Secretary of DENR.
 They prayed that:
1. Cancel all existing Timber Licensing Agreements (TLA) in the
country;
2. Cease and desist from receiving, accepting, processing, renewing,
or appraising new TLAs.
 They alleged that they have a clear and constitutional right to a
balanced and healthful ecology.
 Claims that the act of the defendant constitutes misappropiation
and/or impairment of natural resources.
Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the following
grounds:
1. Plaintiffs have no cause of action against him;
2. The issues raised by the plaintiff is a political question which
properly pertains to the legislative or executive brranches of
government.
ISSUE:
• Whether or not the petitioner-minors is right in
asserting their claims.
• “SEC 16. The state shall protect and advance the right of the people
to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and
harmony of nature.”
• Court ruled that the right to a balanced and healthful ecology
carries with it the correlative duty to take care of the environment
such as the conservation of the country’s forests.
 REPUBLIC V. NAGUIAT
GR No. 134209, Jan. 24, 2006
FACTS:
 Celestina Naguiat filed an application for registration of title to
four parcels of land located in Panan, Zambales.
 Alleging that she is the owner of the said parcels of lands having
acquired them from its previous owners and that to the best of
her knowledge, said lots suffer no mortgage or encumbrance of
whatever kind nor is there any interest or in possession thereof.
Petitioner Republic claims that neither the applicant nor her
predecessors-in interest have been in open, continuous, exclusive
and notorious possession and occupation of the lands in question.
Considering that Naguiat failed to establish that the lands in
question have been declassified from forest or timber zone to
alienable and disposable property.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the lots in question can be privately
appropriated.
• The court ruled that public forestlands or forest reserves, unless
declassified, are not capable of private appropriation.
• By virtue of the Regalian doctrine, all lands not appearing to be
clearly of private dominion presumptively belong to the state.
• Public lands not shown to have been released as alienable
agricultural land or alienated to a private person by the State
remain part of the inalienable public domain.
-End of presentation-
Thank you.