FMP's beyond timber approach in Region 2

BY MIKE DEL ROSARIO

The Community Resource Management Framework-Community Management Plan (CRMF-CMP) was developed to assist Peoples Organizations (POs) in managing the areas covered by Community Based Forest Management Agreements (CBFMAs).

The majority of CRMFs in the Forestland Management Project (FMP)-covered areas in the provinces of Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya has been implemented for nearly four years since its inception in 2014, identifying gaps, valuable lessons learned and gains from the previous five-year plan is recommended.

In her message, the Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan emphasized the importance of strong community relations and organizing that is anchored primarily in the concept of sustainable development objectives such as achieving a balance between economic, social and environmental goals of the People’s Organization (PO’s).

According to Director Bambalan, the CRMF must be thoroughly reviewed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies and activities outlined in the plan, as well as the achievement of the PO’s vision, mission and objectives or VMOs.

Furthermore, due to changing site conditions in most FMP areas such as biophysical (land/vegetative cover, site development establishment, climate, among others), it is also recommended to reevaluate the community needs as PO capabilities may have been improved.

Another thing that may need reevaluation is the PO readiness to new opportunities such as market, projects from other agencies, among others. Certain sections of the CRMFs may also need to be amended for the POs to be able to adapt and become more responsive to evolving situations and issues.

One of the major parts of this review is to assist and guide the POs in Region 2 to complete the CRMF-CMP as part of the FMP and to ensure that all project deliverables are met by the end of the project in 2022.