0032-C1

Local Mangrove Forest Management: Successful Conservation or Efficient Resource Exploitation?

Bradley B. Walters^[1]

Abstract

Recent environmental “narratives” suggest that local people make effective forest stewards. Local restoration and management of mangrove forests, in particular, is now widely advocated as a solution to achieve both economic and conservation goals. This paper presents findings from a study of two coastal sites in the Philippines that are renowned as success stories in local mangrove management. These cases are especially intriguing because local tree planting and management emerged long before governments and NGOs began to promote such activities. These management systems are a successful economic innovation because they protect property from storm damage and enable a dramatically enhanced production of high-value construction wood. However, mangrove plantations are structurally and compositionally different from natural forests, a finding of particular concern because such plantations usually encroach into natural forests. Planted forests are also not typically viewed by planters in terms of their environmental values and are frequently cut and cleared to make space for alternative uses, especially fish farming and residential settlement. The suggestion that these local mangrove management systems are successful for conservation thus needs to be qualified.

Introduction

Governments are no longer viewed as the sole or even primary stewards of forest resources. Increasingly, policies and programs are crafted with the goal of enlisting local people as partners in forest management. This reflects past failings of state management, plus a growing sense that local people can be both empowered and effective as resource stewards (Poffenberger 1990). In fact, research has revealed many cases where local people manage forests without government oversight (Posey and Balee 1989; Redford and Padoch 1992). These findings have encouraged a revision of the standard environmental narrative: away from one in which rural people were cast as destroyers of forests, and toward one where they are seen as responsible forest stewards (Fairhead and Leach 1995). Consistent with this view is the assumption that local forest management will accomplish both development and environmental objectives.

This revised narrative is increasingly embraced by researchers, activists and policy makers concerned with the conservation and management of mangrove forests. Under past state management, vast areas of mangrove throughout the tropics have been cleared for brackish water aquaculture ponds, cut for firewood and timber, and cleared for residential and urban development (Hamilton et al. 1989; Naylor et al. 1998; Primavera 1995). Yet, there are known cases in the Philippines and elsewhere where local people have planted and manage mangrove forests entirely on their own initiative (Cabahug et al. 1986; Walters 1997; Weinstock 1994).

Mangrove reforestation and management is now promoted enthusiastically by governments, non-government organizations and aid agencies throughout tropical Asia and increasingly in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America (e.g., Kaly and Jones 1998). Local people are often seen as partners in such efforts, and it is commonly assumed that their participation will enhance success by cultivating local stewardship of newly planted and existing forests. However, it is still not clear whether local mangrove management is likely to achieve desired economic and conservation objectives, especially over the long-term. One way to better understand this is to study local management systems that are already long-established.

This paper presents research findings from a study of two coastal areas in the Philippines - Bais Bay and Banacon Island - that are renowned as long-established, “success” stories in community-based mangrove reforestation and management. It will show that local people in these two areas were often “successful” at restoring and managing mangrove forests, at least where socioeconomic criteria were used as the basis for evaluation. However, these local management systems were far less successful in terms of achieving conservation objectives.

Materials and Methods

This research is based on field work conducted in 1997 in Bais Bay (9N/123E) and Banacon Island (10N/124E), Philippines. Bais Bay is about 5400ha in area and located on the eastern side of Negros Island. The Bay is divided into North and South by Daco Island and a constructed causeway that connects Daco to the mainland (Calumpong and Luchavez 1997). Fifteen different villages ring North and South Bais Bay, each ranging in size from a few dozen to several hundred households. A majority of coastal residents here derive their principal income from fishing, aquaculture, or related activities. Mangroves fringe much of the coastline of North and South Bais Bay, and there is a large, contiguous stand of forest (app. 200ha) that extends as a peninsula across the front of South Bais Bay.

By contrast, Banacon is a small, remote island, located 5km off the northwest corner of Bohol Province and about 30km east of Cebu City (Cabahug et al. 1986). Over 95% of Banacon Island is forested in mangroves, but approximately 500 households are crowded onto 15ha of dry land on the eastern tip. Virtually all of these households derive their principal income from fishing and related activities (processing, marketing, etc.). A mixture of ethnographic and ecological methods were used in the study. I interviewed 215 coastal residents in the study areas, 158 of whom had planted mangroves. In the interviews, people were asked about the history of mangrove changes; their motivations to plant mangroves; their experience with plantation management; etc. Ecological data presented here are based on assessments of trees in 52 quadrats (10x10m²). Thirty-three mangrove plantations were surveyed this way, ranging from 5 to 60 years of age (mean = 30.3 years). Nineteen different natural forest sites were similarly surveyed. Nearly 6,000 trees and 2,000 seedlings were measured in the 52 quadrats. For a more detailed description of methods, see Walters (2000).

Results

Mangrove Cutting, Planting and Management in Bais Bay

People living along the coast in Bais Bay have for over a century cut mangroves for domestic fuel and construction wood, especially for use as posts in bunsod (fish corrals). Mangroves were also cut and sold to bakeries in nearby towns under the auspices of a government Minor Forest Products Lease (MFPL) between 1930 and 1979. As well, extensive mangroves have been cut and cleared to make space for brackish water fish ponds (app. 1000 ha) and residential housing (30ha).

Mangrove cutting in Bais has slowed considerably in recent years, the result of several factors. The MFPL was canceled by national order in 1979 and mangrove wood use by bakeries made illegal. The national government has also tightened requirements for new fish pond lease applications, making it more difficult for prospective entrepreneurs to obtain legal permits to clear forest. At the local level, the largest remaining tract of natural mangrove, Talabong, was designated a Marine and Wildlife Sanctuary by the City of Bais in 1986. This was followed in the early 1990s by a City ordinance banning the cutting of mangroves from all natural forests. Local cutting restrictions are also increasingly enforced by private individuals who have planted and/or laid claim to specific stands of mangrove forest.

Many people in Bais still use mangrove wood for domestic fuel and especially for bunsod construction (Table 1). However, these cutting restrictions have caused all bakeries and many residents to switch to alternatives: Leucaena leucephala wood, coco fronds, and natural gas are now commonplace fuel substitutes. For example, of 34 persons I asked who currently use alternatives, 29 indicated that they used to cut wood from natural mangroves and all but one indicated that increased cutting restrictions were a factor influencing their decision to switch. Wood for bunsod posts is now mostly cut from locally-managed, mangrove plantations, although some now buy posts cut from nearby upland forests of Leucaena (Table 1).

Table 1. Sources of wood for fuel and bunsod posts in Bais Bay. Figures represent the % of respondents indicating they obtain wood from said source.

Local planting and management of mangroves in Bais Bay emerged in the early 1900s. Early planting was done to provide a ready source of construction materials, especially posts for bunsod. As coastal populations later grew and mangroves were cleared to make space for fish ponds and residential settlements, people began to plant to protect homes and fish pond dykes from storm damage. Recent interviews of mangrove planters indicate that storm protection and bunsod construction are equally common today as motivations to plant (Table 2). Other, less common motivations include the desire for firewood and to appease government officials who now allocate household mangrove leases under the condition that leaseholders plant.

Table 2. Motivations to plant mangroves. Figures represent the % of respondents.

Some have also planted mangroves to enhance tenure security and for land speculation (Table 2). These persons acknowledged that competition for space was a concern and planted to enhance their claims to otherwise common property lands. In fact, I documented many cases where local people had planted mangroves, only to later cut them down to make space for a new house or fish pond. Likewise, a number of people planted mangroves as a capital investment, not interested in the wood per se, but rather the cash that selling the wood might bring in the future.

Mangrove planting today occurs in almost every village in North and South Bais Bay, but the distribution of plantations is uneven because environmental and social factors preclude the successful establishment of plantations at many sites. Specifically, efforts to plant often failed because seedlings were destroyed by waves, shell infestations or other people (Table 3). As well, land ownership along the coast of Bais is skewed and residents lacking property were often precluded from planting adjacent to other peoples’ land. The net effect of these factors is a patchy distribution of plantations, with most concentrated in bands along the shoreline, fronting either residential settlements or fishponds. In total, there are several hundred mangrove plantations in Bais, varying in size from about 10m² - 3ha.

Table 3. Environmental factors cited by planters to have caused mangrove planting mortality or constrained planting in Bais Bay. Figures represent percentage of respondents.

Management of mangrove plantations in Bais Bay is typically intensive. Most people plant only one species of mangrove tree, Rhizophora mucronata (Table 4), and typically at very high densities (100 - 2,500 seedlings per 100m²). Other tree species are often cut back or weeded out of planted areas. This species selectivity reflects two things: first, R. mucronata is especially easy to plant because it reproduces with abundant, viviparous propagules that can be readily identified, collected and transplanted and, second, Rhizophora trees grown at high densities produce straight stems, the wood of which is especially strong.

Plantations valued for storm protection in Bais Bay are usually not cut, although branches, dead wood and the occasional live stem may be removed for fuel or construction. By contrast, plantations valued primarily for construction wood are selectively harvested when stems reach a desired size. For most, this means cutting stems that are 2.5 - 5.0cm dbh, the preferred size for posts used in bunsod. Less frequently, trees are allowed to grow to a larger size whereupon stems are cut for use as beams in home or dock construction.

Table 4. Percentage of mangrove planters in Bais who claim to have planted different species.

That such plantations can be efficient sources of construction wood is shown with data on Rhizophora stem size distribution in plantations and natural forests (Figure 1). These reveal that, in contrast to natural mangrove forests, plantations have 20 - 25 X higher density of Rhizophora stems in the most desired size class (2-5cm dbh). Thus, not only are plantations likely to be more proximate in location to wood consumers, but they enable a more efficient production of desired wood products.

Figure 1. Size-frequency distribution (dbh) of live Rhizophora trees (per ha) in natural and plantation forests in Bais Bay.

Analysis of structural and compositional differences between the two forests types has been done and the results presented elsewhere (Walters 2000). The profound difference can be estimated here from data on species composition alone (Table 5). These show that, compared to natural forests, plantations in Bais Bay are species poor, being totally dominated by the one species that is usually planted: R. mucronata. This pattern was consistent across a range of sites and plantation ages.

Table 5. Species composition (% abundance) of live mangrove trees (n) in natural and plantation forest plots in Bais Bay.

Mangrove Cutting, Planting and Management on Banacon Island

Lacking alternative wood sources, residents on Banacon have always relied on local mangroves to meet virtually all of their domestic fuel and construction needs. An MFPL was also held for Banacon between the mid-1950s and 1979. Under this lease, mangroves were cut and transported 30 km by sea for sale to bakeries and other industries in Cebu City. As in Bais, the MFPL on Banacon was canceled in 1979 and two years later the Island received Wilderness Area designation. Despite this, local people have continued to cut mangroves freely, although virtually all of this wood is today harvested from plantations.

Mangrove planting was first introduced to Banacon in 1957, but has since become widely practiced. Residents remain entirely dependent on mangroves for wood, and most plant with the intent of harvesting trees for construction of their homes, fences, bunsod and fish traps. Many also plant mangroves as a contingency, knowing that they can sell their trees when extra cash is needed. Buyers also often visit the island to purchase posts for construction elsewhere, and planted parcels are even bought & sold or bartered among residents with trees still standing. Several wealthier residents have come to acquire numerous parcels this way.

Most planting on Banacon has been done in areas previously occupied by natural forests, but subsequently degraded by cutting under the MFPL. Planting today is further eroding remaining natural forests because people typically cut back or weed out natural trees to make more space for planted ones. Only one species - R. stylosa - is planted on Banacon. Trees are typically planted at high densities (200 - 900 seedlings per 100 m²) and in stands ranging in size from a few hundred m² to about 4ha. About 400ha of plantations have been established. The net effect has been the creation of hundreds of small patches of forest that cumulatively form a large, mono-specific mosaic of different-aged stands, separated only by the occasional walking or boat path.

Discussion

At first glance, local mangrove management in Bais Bay and Banacon Island appears to conform to the revised narrative of people as forest stewards. In fact, these cases have been portrayed by foresters, researchers and the media as models of community-based management and have been show-cased to enlist support for wider efforts of the World Bank, USAID and Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Findings from this study both support and contradict this narrative. On the one hand, the widespread planting and management of mangroves is evidence that local people can be stewards, even without the support or official endorsement of external agencies. Local mangrove management is a successful economic innovations because it provides important benefits - notably wood products and property protection - in a practical and efficient manner. Although difficult to quantify, evidence is also suggestive that their establishment has served to reduce cutting pressure from natural forests by providing alternative sources of wood.

But, environmental and socio-economic factors often precluded successful planting, even where people were motivated to do so, and the establishment of plantations has been accomplished in many sites at the expense of the more species-diverse, natural forests once found there. Once established, plantations are consciously managed to be mono-specific and structurally homogeneous to maximize economic benefits. The long-term fate of many such planted forests is also uncertain given that many planters are readily willing to cut and convert them to other valued uses, like fish ponds and home sites. In fact, this has occurred before in the Philippines: vast mangrove plantations that once encircled Manila Bay early in the 1900s were later totally destroyed to make space for fish ponds, residential housing and urban infrastructure (Cabahug et al. 1986; Brown and Fischer 1918). This study suggests that, despite its many past failings, the state may still have a crucial role to play conserving and managing mangrove forests; a role above and beyond simply facilitating local management. This is likely to be especially the case where critical environmental values, like rare species or marine habitat, are important attributes of particular forests. For example, the Talabong Sanctuary in Bais Bay is a notable case of successful, government-led protection of a species-rich site that is regarded by both scientists and many local fishermen as critical for sustaining local fisheries. The Sanctuary now also forms the basis of a thriving eco-tourism operation. Successful protection of the Talabong was achieved, in part, by enlisting local fishermen as guards and by investing in community outreach. But, the “heavy-hand” of government was an essential component of this particular conservation strategy.

To conclude, it is important that we better understand the conditions under which local forest users are more or less likely to adopt conservation-oriented practices like tree planting and forest management. But, it is doubtful that the adoption of an alternative, universal narrative based on assumptions of a harmonious, rather than destructive relationship between local people and forests will be of benefit to either researchers or policy-makers (Roe 1991; Vayda and Walters 1999). Results from this study suggest that the relationships between local people and forests are not as tidy and predictable as any one narrative is likely to capture.

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