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THE KALAHAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: ON THE GROUND INITIATIVE FOR FOREST
CONSERVATION AND CULTURE PRESERVATION


THE KALAHAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: ON THE GROUND INITIATIVE FOR FOREST
CONSERVATION AND CULTURE PRESERVATION

Published: 2019.10.24
Received:
Accepted: 2019.10.24
269
Catherine C. de Luna
University Researcher
Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Integrated Natural Resources and
Environment Management, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of
the Philippines Los Banos
Josephine E. Garcia
University Researcher
Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, College of Forestry and
Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Banos
Juan M. Pulhin
Professor
Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance and Chair, Interdisciplinary
Studies Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Environment Management,
College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los
Banos

ABSTRACT

The forest conservation including biodiversity and culture preservation among
the Ikalahans of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines has been documented to be
successful. Facilitating factors for its successful implementation include
recognition of rights within the ancestral domain through secured land tenure,
crafting and effective enforcement of community rules and regulations on forest
conservation, and incorporation of values and culture in the educational system.
Other initiatives to improve the lives of the Ikalahans while conserving the
environment include livelihood activities like food processing, organic farming
and agroforestry, and forest improvement technology. Also, recent innovations
supportive of international conventions and market mechanisms have been
initiated like biodiversity conservation, carbon trading, and payment for
environmental services. Just like many indigenous peoples in the Philippines and
elsewhere, however, the Ikalahans face major challenges that need to be hurdled
in the context of changing times. These include market access, institutional
support mechanism and continuity of traditional leadership.

Keywords: Ikalahan, Kalahan Educational Foundation, ancestral domain, land
tenure, sustainable natural resources management

INTRODUCTION

The term “Kalahan” literally means forest. The people living in or from the
forest are called “Ikalahan.” The Ikalahans belong to the Kalanguya tribe of the
Cordillera and Caraballo mountains of Northern Luzon in the Philippines (Rice
2000). Ikalahan is just one of the many ethnic groups or tribes in the
Philippines concentrated in the northern part of the main island of Luzon.

In the Philippines, land is classifified into two major classifications. These
classifications are alienable and disposable (A and D) and forest land, and in
2017 represent 47% and 53% of the total land area of 30 million hectares,
respectively (Philippine Forestry Statistics 2017). The A and D lands are those
lands of the public domain which have been classified and declared as not needed
for forest purposes (Presidential Decree 705 1975). Forest lands are those
declared as permanent forests, established forest reserves, established
timberland, national parks and game refuge and bird sanctuaries, wilderness
area, military and naval reservations and civil reservations (Philippine
Forestry Statistics 2017).

Forest cover changes from 1934 to 1988 show that a steady decline has been
observed (Figure 1). In 1969 forest cover declined by almost 7 million hectares,
and in 1971 issuance of Forestry Administrative Order No. 62 (Kaingin Management
and Land Settlement Regulations), where the focus was the containment of slash
and burn cultivators rather than punishing forest occupants, which was the start
of community-based forest management programs in the Philippines. The rapid
decline in forest cover was caused by large scale commercial logging displacing
local people, opening roads which facilitated migration and encroachment into
the forest.



After the commercial logging and opening of roads into the forest, entrance of
land speculators and lowland migrants was facilitated. Lowland migrants
cultivated the forest and employed slash and burn farming, fallow period,
nomadic farming or hunter-gathering. These activities contributed to the
decreasing forest cover caused by land-use change.

The decrease in forest cover in Philippines prompted the government to pioneer
community-based forest management agreements to contain forest dwellers from
encroaching further into the forest and at the same time conserve
existing/remaining forest cover.

While forest cover change for the Philippines is generally decreasing through
time, the case for the Kalahan Reserve is the reverse. According to Dizon et al
(2008) and as shown in Table 1, the Ikalahans have targeted an increasing
agricultural land, watershed, orchards, public lands and dipterocarp forest
while a decrease in swidden (fallow) cycle, swidden area, fallow area and
grassland/monocrop pine forests have been proposed until Year 2020.



HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE KEF

The Ikalahans were not spared from land speculators whose purpose was to acquire
logged over areas for personal purposes. In fact, in 1970, the Philippine
government planned to convert about 6,300 hectares of the ancestral lands into a
vacation centre. Fake titles were used by relatives of high government officials
in efforts to grab the land from the Ikalahan. The Ikalahans decided to file a
case in court to force the government to recognize their ancestral land claims.
The government attempted to have the case dismissed, but eventually, the
Ikalahan achieved legal victory in 1972. The court revoked the lowlanders’
titles, and eventually forced the government to abandon plans to develop the
area as a vacation centre. The victory of the Ikalahans paved the way for the
establishment of the Kalahan Forest Reserve and issuance of Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) No. 1 between the government and the Ikalahan tribe. The MOA
legitimized the prior and vested rights of the Ikalahan tribe over their
ancestral lands, recognizing their claim and assured that they will not be
driven away from their ancestral lands and that they were given the complete
control and authority to manage the land and its resources. The Kalahans took
the responsibility of protecting the watershed.

After the victory of the Ikalahans, the Philippine government pioneered the
implementation of community-based forest management approaches, primarily to
reforest logged over areas. The issuance of MOA No. 1 was the basis for the
delineation of ancestral lands and domain claims in 1993 through Adiistrative
Ordeer No. 2 Series of 1993, and later became the basis of Republic Act No. 8371
or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997.

The Ikalahans are people that have associated their existence with forests.
Wildlife fruits (guava, santol, dagwey), flowers (hibiscus and orchids) and
rattan can be collected from the sanctuaries, however, only a small portion of
these can be collected (about 15%) and leaving majority (85%) to serve as food
for the wildlife (birds, deer, wild pigs, etc.). Allocation of communal lands to
all farm families is up to 8 hectares, mostly extending from the river up to the
mountain slope.  The flatter lands near the river were devoted to rice and
vegetable, the mid slopes for swidden farming and the top portion will be
maintained as farm forests. The farm forests are adjacent to the delineated
wildlife sanctuaries, to maintain the ecological balance and biological
diversity and integrity (Rice, 2000).

Despite changes in land use and land cover through time, the effective
stewardship of the Ikalahans over thrir ancestral domain was key in the
conservation of the remaining forest resoures and biodiversity in the Forest
Reserve as well as the associated environmental services like water supply, soil
amelioration, carbon sequestration, regulation of climate and the like. Figure 2
presents the change in land use/land cover in the Forest Reserve in 1979 and
2002.



FACILITATING FACTORS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF FOREST CONSERVATION

The Ikalahans were originally hunters and gatherers and eventually became
swidden farmers and their swidden farming system is characterized by a system of
crop rotation and forest fallow which makes their farming system sustainable.
Traditionally, the fallow cycle is about 17 years but this has been reduced to
about 12 years in 2000 (Rice 2011). Swidden farms are planted to obi/sweet
potato (Ipomoea batatas L) which is their staple food and ginger (Zingiber
officinale Rosc) which is processed as hot drink (Pulhin et al 2007).

According to Dizon et al (2008), “although the Ikalahans did not have written
rules regarding the use of natural resources, established indigenous practices
have been observed prior to the issuance of MOA No. 1. For instance, they have
their indigenous way of land management which includes the gen-gen, an ancient
composting done on unfertile level farms using sweet potato vines; day-og or in
situ composting within sloping land; and balkah, contour cropping. For some
time, these practices have been stopped because the KEF members perceived these
as “old- fashioned””. In 2018, gen-gen, day-og and balkah were no longer
practiced by the farmers, there was no need for these technologies as they have
reduced land cultivation in steep slopes and allowed the regeneration of
forests. Also, their farming systems are diversified and sweet potato and ginger
are no longer the only crops that they are cultivating in the flatter portion of
their farms.

The issuance of MOA No. 1 to the Ikalahans serves as the basis of “ownership” by
the community of a vast tract of land. Inorder to be recognized, they have
registered with the securities and exchange commission of the Philippines and
has been recognized as Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF).

When the Ikalahans were awarded their title and upon seeing by the tribal
leaders that their population is growing and their swidden farming methods
causes more harm to the forest, the role of the tribal leaders came into force.

Recognition of rights through secured land tenure

The Ikalahans (meaning "people of the forest") have lived in the Kalahan Forest
Reserve for centuries, relying mainly on hunting, gathering and traditional
swidden agriculture for survival. The Ikalahans are indigenous peoples that
belong to the Kalanguya tribe of the Mountain Province. These indigenous peoples
are recognized by the government as rightful owners of the land they occupy,
provided they have continuously occupied and cultivated, either by himself or
through his ancestors, a tract of agricultural land since time immemorial (RA
8371 1997).

The Kalahan Forest Reserve lies at an elevation of 600 to 1700 meters above sea
level with average slopes of 45 degrees. The predominant vegetation is tropical
rainforest having frequent typhoon from June to December with an average
rainfall of 3,000 to 5,000 mm year-1.

The Council of Elders within the Kalahan Forest Reserve takes control of the
allocation of land. Every family has an average of 6 hectares of farm lots where
food production can be implemented (Dolom and Serrano 2005). Any member of the
tribe that wants to clear a forest for farming should ask permission from KEF
and the foundation’s forester inspects the area and determines its suitability.

The recognition of individual rights within the ancestral domain has encouraged
farm development following land-use plans formulated by the farmer and his
leader (Dolom and Serrano 2005).

The Ikalahan incorporated themselves into the Kalahan Educational Foundation,
Inc. in 1973 to protect communities from possible eviction by land grabbers
(Villamor and Lasco 2006). The natural resources were managed by local leaders
and the community members using indigenous systems. In 1974, MOA No. 1 was
awarded to the Kalahan with the land and all its resources belonging to the
Ikalahan community. The responsibility of the community was to protect the
watershed. In 2006, the Certificate of Ancestral Domain (CADT) was awarded to
the Ikalahans.

RA 8371 (1997) defined ancestral domain as “all areas generally belonging to
ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources
therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by
themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since time
immemorial, continuously to the present except when interrupted by war, force
majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of
government projects or any other voluntary dealings entered into by government
and private individuals/corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their
economic, social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral lands,
forests, pasture, residential, agricultural, and other lands individually owned
whether alienable and disposable or otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds,
worship areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural resources, and lands
which may no longer be exclusively occupied by ICCs/IPs but from which they
traditionally had access to for their subsistence and traditional activities,
particularly the home ranges of ICCs/IPs who are still nomadic and/or shifting
cultivators.”

Crafting and effective enforcement of community rules and regulations on forest
conservation

According to Larson, Cronkleton and Pulhin in 2015, the Kalahan Educational
Foundation (KEF) was formed by a group of elders, and the Board of Trustees
(BOT) is made up of one representative from each of the participating barangays,
plus three others (an additional representative from the most populous
community, a youth representative, and a non-voting representative of the
barangay local government offices). The BOT manages the KEF that has sections
that deals with the Forest and Natural Research, Health and Sanitation,
Education and Enterprises Development. The organizational structure of the KEF
is shown in Figure 2.

Forest and Natural Research Section deals with farming, forest, agroforestry
endeavors. This include proper farming practices, forest improvement activities,
cropping combinations, proper planting and harvesting techniques, land-use and
land distribution policies.  Health and sanitation deals with solid waste
management including ensuring that there is no thrash in waterways. Education
section deals with the management of the Kalahan Academy, a formal education
provider up to Grade 12. Enterprise development is in-charge of food processing.

According to Rice (2001), elders hold office by ascription and are people
recognized as effective at providing leadership and resolving disputes, but they
do not represent or make decisions for the community. The most important
institution is the Tongtongan. The Tongtongan functions like a tribal court,
presided over by local elders, whereby people come together to discuss a
conflict or problem; the elders make the final judgment, aimed at reconciliation
(Rice 1995).



The tribal leaders serve as the overseer of the ansectral domain. They develop
simple but clear rules for recognizing individual rights within the ancestral
domain. The KEF is a case where transfer of forest management from the
government to the forest dwellers proved to be successful. Some of these
resource policies are shown in Table 2.



Incorporation of values and culture in the educational system

The Kalahan Academy (KA), was established to provide education to the children
within the reserve to provide access to appropriate knowledge and skills with
which to better utilize the available resources sustainably (Dizon et al. 2008)
and prevent cultural erosion (Dolom and Serrano 2005). The curriculum includes a
significant amount of Ikalahan history and culture to help the students in their
search for self-identify as well as ecology to encourage early natural resources
management perspective.

Although originally designed to serve Ikalahan students, the KA has attracted
students from many other mountain tribes, including Mangyan from the province of
Oriental Mindoro, Philippines.

Also, most of the KEF staff and teachers are graduates from the Academy. Others
serve as barangay (local government) officials in the community while others are
working in the municipal office of Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines (Dolom
and Serrano 2005).

Livelihood activities

a. Food processing

The BOT realized that utilization of wild fruits was a promising livelihood
without damaging the forests. In 1980, KEF established the food processing
center to produce jams, marmalades, preserves and related products using wild
fruits from the forests and was marketed under the “Mountain Fresh” label.

In Kalahan, people began with guavas (Psidium guajava Linn.), which were
eventually- developed into three different products: jam, jelly and butter. With
more than 500 hectares of wild guavas within the Kalahan Reserve, there is
little danger of overexploiting the resource.

Dizon et al (2008) mentioned that aside from guava, other wild fruits that are
processed are dagwey (Saurauia subglabra Merl.), bignay (Antidesma bunius Linn),
santol (Sandoricum koetjape Burm), dikay (Embelia philippinensis ADL), and
hibiscus (Hibiscus rosasinensis Linn).

Other products processed but were not popular were Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa
Linn), Bignay fruit (Antidesma bunius Linn.), Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis),
and wild raspberries (Rubus pectinalus and Rubus rosaifolius).

Before the processing of these fruits, ginger (Zingiber officinala Rosc.) was
the only plant that had any commercial value to the community. Although guavas,
passion fruit and santol could be marketed fresh in the lowlands, the price was
so low that it was not economical to ship them.

b. Agroforestry

The implementation of agroforestry in the Ikalahans farms was through the
exposure of some of its members to capacity development activities organized by
environmental organizations including state colleges and universities. These
learnings were tried into their local farming. Specifically, Elder Omis
Balinhawang, decided to incorporate Alnus napalensis in his swidden field
planted to sweet potato, after learning about the concept of contour cropping of
incorporating leguminous trees. Until the early 2000s, the practice is
widespread and adopted by fellow Ikalahan, and was called pangomis, in honor of
the Elder who developed the technology.

Alnus napalensis is now incorporated in swidden farms, as a living barrier to
prevent soil erosion. Also, branches of Alnus nepalensis can be used as firewood
for cooking and heating. Alnus logs were at one time used as growing medium for
Shitake mushroom.

Forest Improvement Technology (FIT)

The implementation of the FIT by the Ikalahans is aimed at improving the
forest.  They perform this  by eliminating crooked, damaged or crowded trees.
This forest improvement technology is done to ultimately come up with the best
quality lumber and a healthy forest, able to regenerate itself. Rice (2001)
described FIT in Box 1.

FIT follows the natural rejuvenation process of the forest. Trees die or are
felled by storms, while new seedlings will sprout and develop. Mature trees that
have stopped growing are removed to create favorable conditions for forest
rejuvenation. If this is done every year, the forest will continue to develop
and improve. The removal of individual trees does not hurt the forest or its
environment and provides first class lumber.

Each year the forest farmer makes a selection of trees to be cut. The farmer
checks for crooked, damaged or crowded trees that need to be removed to improve
the forest. Simple equipment is used, and the sawdust, tops and branches are
left to rot because they restore fertility to the forest soil and help maintain
biodiversity. The farmer does not separate the potential crop trees from the
other trees because he knows that all trees have a role to play in the forest.

If there are large open spaces, a forest pioneer species will be planted first.
Agricultural crops are not planted between the trees because they would bother
the other plants that need to grow to make a good forest. Enrichment planting
can increase the population of one or two species of large or small plants. This
can be highly favorable as long as the forests is not turned into a plantation.
The forest farmer will cut only a small amount of growth, allowing the forest to
improve each year.

When the forest finally has its proper amount of wood, which is approximately
270 m3 ha-1, the farmer can begin to remove an amount equal to the total growth
rate of 15 to 20 m3 ha-1 year-1. The farmer will have to do that to allow the
seedlings to grow.

The growth rate presently expected in Philippine forests is about 4.5 m3 ha-1
year-1. Under proper management, using FIT, the forest can produce as much as 15
to 20 m3 ha-1 year-1. Such a forest still retains the characteristics of a
natural forest.

It still has a high biodiversity and is an effective watershed with a high
percolation rate. It will also provide a sanctuary for many kinds of wild
orchids, animals, birds and insects. If each forest farmer cares for 5 ha of
good forest, he may harvest up to 80 m3 of first class lumber every year without
damaging the forest. That would provide him with higher cash income than many
professionals and he would still have plenty of time to produce his own food on
the farm. Once the forest has developed, it can be sustained indefinitely.

Box 1.   Forest Improvement Technology as described by Rice 2001.

RECENT INNOVATIONS AND MARKET MECHANISMS

Biodiversity conservation

The Ikalahans are hunter-gatherers and if they plant sweet potato, they plant
them in swidden farms and fallow the area, if it is no longer productive. Each
fallow cycle is about 17 years, which when done properly is sustainable
indefinitely (Rice 2011). After food and cash income requirements have been met
from swidden farming and hunting and gathering from identified niches, pressure
to the old growth and second growth forests have been reduced.  With this, the
population was willing to institute a   strict hunting season for wild birds and
animals and have also expanded the area intended for wildlife sanctuaries from
400 to 4000 hectares. These wildlife sanctuaries can be places where  they can
collect food, fruits and wildlife, but they are only allowed to collect 15% of
the total population (Rice 2011).

 * Flora. There are presently 1 400 identified species of plants in the
   database. More than 900 of them are already represented in the herbarium
   sheet collection. The research is continuing and the number of species is
   expected to reach 1800. Eleven of these identified species are on the CITES
   Appendix 2 list, not including the orchids, and another five are listed in
   the IUCN Red Book as Endangered. Eighty-six species of orchids are found in
   the forests of the Kalahan Reserve. Two of these, in Genus Paphiopedellum,
   are on the CITES Appendix 1 list. The remaining 84 are in Appendix 2.

 * Fauna. Of the 148 species, which have been clearly identified, 27 are on the
   IUCN Appendix 2 list. Three additional species are in Appendix 1, but the
   community leaders report that the Philippine Eagle and Koch’s Pitta, two of
   the three have not been seen for several years so they are not sure whether
   they still exist in the area or not. The Peregrine Falcon, the third from
   Appendix 1, is still seen occasionally. In addition to those species
   protected by virtue of their inclusion in the CITES lists, the IUCN Red Book
   classified five of the identified species as Endangered, another six as
   Vulnerable and three others as Threatened.

 * Other fauna. Although the record of other fauna is very incomplete, 48
   species of large fauna have been identified and another 20 are being studied.
   Included in this number are ten species which are on the CITES lists in
   Appendix 2. Eight of the ten are also on the IUCN lists. They include five
   species of bats, two lizards, one deer and two snakes.

Carbon trading

When the issue of climate change was discussed globally and locally, the
Ikalahan recognized that the same forest that provides water is also
sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. Kalahans also recognized that the
forest is an effective carbon sink.

Carbon trading was recognized as one of the ways to provide income to the
community, without compromising the functions of the forest for watershed and
carbon sequestration.

With assistance from various groups (Biodiversity Conservation Network (BCN) and
the University of the Philippines Los Banos, an inexpensive and easy to follow
methodology was developed. In 1993, a methodology was worked out which allowed
KEF to estimate the amount of carbon sequestered by the forest.

Based from the measurements and computation done by the foresters in 1999, the
10,000 hectares of production forest within the Kalahan Reserve sequesters about
10,000 tons of carbon every year and the rate of sequestration is increasing
every year as the forests are improving (Rice 2009). In 2002, KEF estimated
around 38,383 tons of carbon dioxide were recycled by the Kalahan forests
(Villamor and Lasco, 2006).

In 2003, Kalahan was chosen as the first pilot site in the Philippines for the
development of a carbon sequestration payment mechanism. KEF targeted two types
of carbon markets – the regulated market, through Kyoto’s CDM, and the voluntary
carbon market. KEF planned to convert the 900 hectares of marginal and abandoned
agriculture land to more productive tree-based system, enhance the livelihood of
the communities in the proposed area through agroforestry; and protect the
watershed, enhance the biodiversity, and improve land beauty of the tourism
area.

Villamor and Lasco (2006) estimated that the 900 ha area would sequester 89,776
t CO2-e for 20 years under the medium tree growth scenario, based on the tree
growth rates using the Philippine derived values of Lasco et al. (2004).



The voluntary carbon-offset markets aimed to maintain 10,000 ha of secondary
forests for production and carbon sequestration. Initial estimates in 2007
showed that the forest area could sequester 1.7 M t of CO2 for a period of 20
years.

The payment for environmental services is needed by the Ikalahans so they can
escape from poverty, protect the forests, expand their forests, restore the
wildlife, provide health services and provide appropriate education. Once they
get paid, they plan to provide health services to all, provide education,
provide employment in forest improvement, and establish micro-industries using
forest products. However, this initiative has not yet been fully realized at
present with the passing away of Reverent Pastor Rice who was responsible for
this project.

Payment for ecosystem services

Accoding to van Noordwijk (2005), watershed functions are considered to be the
first environmental service functions that have been recognized for payments due
to their immediate relevance to the people. The major issue in watershed
services payments is a lack of clarity about the impact of different land uses
on water (Kaimowitz 2004). The Kalahan Ancestral Domain provides water supply to
the downstream areas, but they are not being paid. The Ikalahans are lamenting
“we carry all the burden while the people in the lowlands receive all of the
benefits.” Rice (2004) pointed out that “most of the needed legislation to
enable the Ikalahan people to be remunerated for the forest services they
provide are in place, the next step is to begin the dialogues with the
beneficiaries of the forest services to convince them to pay for the services
rendered.” While there is no remuneration paid for the watershed functions
provided by the Kalahan Forest Reserve, KEF is looking forward that their
efforts will be compensated with the best rewards.

CHALLENGES

While the Ikalahans have successfully secured their land tenure and successfully
implemented forest and biodiversity conservation in their ancestral land, there
remain some challenges that they are currently facing.

Market access

In a visit to KEF in 2018, the processing plant has stopped its regular
operation due to marketing problems and limited operating capital. The marketing
arm for organic, village-produced products, the Upland Marketing Foundation,
Inc, ceased its operation in early 2000. With this, the KEF has to market its
own produce to supermarkets in Metro Manila and neighboring towns. The option
for international market was also stalled with the passing away of Rev. Delbert
Rice, the former KEF Executive Director, who was responsible for marketing the
products both locally and internationally. While there are regular local
supermarkets that the products are displayed, the demand has not increased. Slow
turn-over of products, limited buyers, and not enough capital to purchase all
the raw materials are some of the reasons for the reduced operation.

There is the need for a better marketing strategy that will penetrate local and
international markets, including a strategy to advertise the existence of their
processed products. KEF also needs financial assistance to support its
operational activities until such time that the enterprise becomes more
economically viable and sustainable.

Institutional support mechanisms

There were various institutions and linkages that were established since 1972.
These include the academe, NGOs both local and international and have
participated in providing assistance to the attainment of the different plans of
KEF. According to Dizon et al (2008), some these include assistance from the
Commission on National Integration (1974) for the newly established Kalahan
Academy; Ford Foundation which provided grant for agriculture and forestry
development (1975); USAID (1978); Philippine Australian Community Action
Programme (1987); Canadian International Development Agency (1988); and churches
in Netherlands and Germany (1990).

While KEF showed capability in managing their current resources, there are
threats that are now visible in the community. One of these is the construction
of a road connecting the province of Nueva Vizcaya to the province of Pangasinan
in the Philippines that may endanger the biodiversity conservation efforts of
the area. Another is the planting of sayote following the age-old practice of
monocropping and needs a large clearing to be able to construct the trellises
for maximum yield.

There is still the need for continuous capacity building and education of the
current farmers to find cropping combinations that does not require large areas
of land and non-erosive. There should also be institutions that will capacitate
more the farmers in terms of value-adding or processing so as not to transport
raw materials outside the community.

Continuity of traditional leadership

While some of the children are earning college degrees and are moving out of the
community, there are those that remained in the community and continued to
become farmers. These farmers were trained and capacitated by the Elders on the
different aspects of farming. These upcoming leaders should be able to adapt to
the changing challenges of modernization, climate change, carbon trading, and
trade liberalization.

These future leaders should be good at incorporating traditional leadership but
at the same time adaptive to current issues.

According to Dizon et al (2008), a recent review of Kalahan Academy’s (KA)
alumni also indicates that most of the mountain villages which have sent
students to the Academy have now at least one alumnus serving as an elected
official in the Local Government Unit. This has had a very positive effect on
the environment and economic development as well as on the peace and order in
the remote areas.

CONCLUSION

The Ikalahans are forest dwellers and they derive their food and raw materials
for shelter from the forest. The Ikalahans are the first tribal group that was
given the recognition by the Philippine Government as partners in the management
of a forest reserve. The Ikalahans have proven themselves to be good stewards of
the forests for the benefit of the current and future generations. Their efforts
have contributed to the ecological, economic and food security of the community
but also served as a model for sustainable indigenous forest management. In
addition to their competence in environmental management, the importance of
culture has also been inculcated by establishing a culturally-responsive
educational system that continue to valorize indigenous knowledge and practices
in forest management and protection. With the changing aspirations of every
member of the tribal group and with more government development initiatives in
the context of a modernizing society, there are also major challenges that need
to be hurdled if the spirit of Satoyama is to live on among the Ikalahans.

REFERENCES

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in an Ancestral Domain Area: The Case of the Kalahan Education Foundation in
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Dolom, B. L. and R. C. Serrano. 2005. The Ikalahan: Traditions Bearing Fruit. In
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Encarnacion, C.S. 1999. Community-based enterprises and conservation: the
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Kaimowitz, D. 2004. Forests in the Pressure of Global Policy Making. In Forest
Research Crossing Borders, V. Joensuu (ed). Findland, European Forest Institute.
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http://www.efi.fi/publications/Proceedings/.(link is external)

Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF). 1995. Development Plan: Ikalahan Ancestral
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Larson, A.M., P.J. Cronkleton and J.M. Pulhin. 2015. Formalizing Indigenous
Commons: The Role of ‘Authority’ in the Formation of Territories in Nicaragua,
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Lasco, R., Pulhin, F., Roshetko, J., and Banaticla, M. R. 2004. LULUCF climate
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Pulhin, J.M., M. Inoue and T. Enters.   2007.   Three decades of community-based
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Rice, D. 2011. Case study 1: Community Based Forest Management:  The Experience
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Rice, Delbert. 2001. Case Study 1: Community Based Forest Management: The
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Rice, D. 2000.  The Ikalahan:  towards sustainable forest use.   ILEIA
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external)

Rice, D. 1995. Forest Niches: Sustainable Livelihood for Upland Dwellers with
Emphasis on Food Processing. Beyond Timber: Social, Economic and Cultural
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Forest Management as a Carbon Mitigation Option: Case Studies. Center for
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Date submitted: September 10, 2019
Reviewed, edited and uploaded: October 24, 2019

Country: Philippines
Topic: Eco-friendly agriculture (satoyama and satoumi)
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