STATEMENT
Sound Environmental Governance Inc. (SEGI)
Landslides and floods are triggered when rain becomes excessive beyond a threshold limit; deforestation and logging being tagged the main cause after every massive flooding is without firm scientific basis.
We wish to express and share our views, through the undersigned members of the Board of Trustees, on the recent natural disaster caused by typhoon Sendong in the Northern parts of Mindanao. The focus is on the perceived relations amongst forests, deforestation and floods.
While we sympathize with the victims and families of the casualties in the massive flooding in Northern Mindanao particularly the Cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, we are deeply concerned with the statements being made on the causes of such disaster and the impacts to the affected areas and people. As expected, deforestation is always the favorite whipping boy by uninformed officials and commentators during tragic disasters like this. Deforestation and logging are pin-pointed as the major causes of flooding.
We wish to explain the role of forests in relation to flooding and landslides. Contrary to popular belief, forests have only a limited influence on major downstream flooding, especially large-scale events. It is correct that on a local scale forests and forest soils are capable of reducing runoff, generally as the result of enhanced infiltration and storage capacities. But this holds true only for small-scale rainfall events, which are not responsible for severe flooding in downstream areas. During a major rainfall event, like those that resulted in massive flooding of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Cities, especially after prolonged periods of preceding rainfall, the forest soil becomes saturated and water no longer filters into the soil but instead runs off along the soil surface. The sponge effects of forests have threshold levels. Ondoy in 2009 dumped one month’s worth of rainfall in just six hours, sending floods rampaging across Metro Manila and much of Luzon while Sendong dumped one month’s value of rain over a 24-hour period, but was more destructive.
Many studies have shown that most landslides and floods are triggered when rain becomes excessive beyond a threshold limit. For landslides this threshold varies with the slope gradient, depth of soil and antecedent soil moisture content. But the idea that deforestation caused flooding is deeply flawed. There is not a shred of scientific evidence to suggest that logging or deforestation play significant roles in massive floods. At the large scale, things like dams and drainage channels and how much water people consume are far more significant. Usually rainfall is fairly localised, but big floods tend to occur on those relatively rare occasions when it rains everywhere at the same time. And the myth is doing great damage to farmers and forest dwellers that need forests to survive.
The case of the floods in Albay, Camarines Sur, Samar, Agusan, Zamboanga, Davao Provinces and Palawan and the landslides in Leyte (not to forget the previous floods and landslides in Infanta and Real, Quezon; the unprecedented inundations in Marikina City and vicinities; and the killer landslides in Benguet) are the consequences of climate change manifested in prolonged and excessive rain rather than logging per se. This is why even as the Philippines is reeling from the effects of such natural disasters, other countries that supposedly have more forests such as Australia, Brazil, China and Thailand also suffered from destructive inundations.
We must remember that in the Ormoc floods in 1990 and 2004 floods and landslides in Quezon and Aurora, investigative assessments done by group of scientists both revealed that the disasters were triggered by excessive rains. Estimates done in these assessments also showed that even if the forests were intact, too much rains would have led just the same to floods and landslides. Further it was also reported (especially in Quezon) that more landslides occurred in areas with trees than in areas with grass and brushes consistent with the physical nature of landslides that the heavier the mass of soil the more predisposed to landslide an area becomes.
Thus, forests cannot stop flooding and landslides brought about by excessive rains over a wide area.
The government should focus on other major drivers of flooding brought about by heavy rains from typhoons. The absence or lack of a flood warning, high tide, darkness and a false sense of security proved disastrous for people of northern Mindanao when Tropical Storm “Sendong” came over the weekend. The impacts were high as climate change tends to increase the intensity and occurrence of typhoons while rapid urbanization and informal settlers in highly vulnerable areas have expanded through time. Scientific warnings, geohazard and vulnerability maps made by the DENR, unsustainable land use changes, and simulation models on the probability of a typhoon like Sendong occurring in the affected areas have been ignored. The catchment areas in the two cities and the waterways are not prepared to handle such excessive flow of water from the heavy rain. There is no integrated plan to adapt and mitigate the impacts of strong typhoons in Mindanao that are usually not frequented by such natural disasters. Identifying deforestation as the major culprit in flooding is most unfair and unscientific.
Logging was also identified as the major cause of deforestation and hence flooding. In the country, deforestation or the total loss of forests leading to denudation, is caused mainly by land conversion to other uses primarily agricultural use and the unsustainable utilization by poor forest dwellers, such as “kaingin”, “carabao-logging”, and the more modern “motorcycle-logging”. Scientific studies in legal and sustainable forest operations confirmed that timber harvesting need not destroy the natural production forests nor adversely affect the forest environment. An environment and biodiversity-friendly forest management system including its timber harvesting, silvicultural, and protection components can be designed and implemented.
We support the all out war declared by the government against illegal logging. However, the current ban on harvesting natural and residual forests under EO 23 does not lead to significant reduction in illegal logging but rather increased the illicit practice by organized syndicates and impoverished forest dwellers in areas formerly occupied and managed by legitimate tenure holders such as CBFMAs, IFMAs, SIFMAs, CADTs that have become open access with the ban. Despite the ban the illegally cut logs stocked in the upper watersheds of the waterways leading to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities were floated and pushed downstream by the floods causing more damage to the coastal settlement areas. Meantime, the good forest managers have been penalized to give way to the bad illegal loggers.
It is imperative that the remaining sustainable forest operations remain as sustainable forest management units rather than be banned from harvesting. Studies conducted in 1989 by the UP Los Baños Forestry Development Center (FDC) on the Status of Cancelled and Expired Timber License Agreements (TLAs) revealed negative results for log ban areas. Instead of keeping the forests in such areas intact because of the stop in logging/timber harvesting operations, forest destruction became worse and was enhanced as these areas were rendered open-access, unmanaged, and unguarded forests, making them free-for-all areas of unrestricted exploitation. Twenty-seven out of 32 cancelled and expired TLAs showed faster forest loss than during the time that the TLAs operated.
Finally, hundreds of lives may have been spared had settlements and structures not been located in danger zones – islets, river banks, near or above waterways, including dried up river beds and creeks.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Decision-makers and scientists must interconnect. Focusing on deforestation and logging as the main culprits after every massive flooding in the country is irresponsible and without firm scientific basis.
- An independent 3rd party group composed of scientists, professional groups, and civil society should evaluate what happened in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and other parts of Northern Mindanao and what future actions can be taken to prevent or mitigate the destructive impacts.
- Review the impacts of EO 23 as far as controlling illegal logging is concerned and the effects on legitimate tenure holders.
- The government must have accurate and updated data, maps and management information system on all aspects of natural disaster vulnerability, impact reduction and assessment. These should be supported by remote sensing technology and geographic information system capability.
- River basins and watersheds should be the integrated planning and management units for sustainable forest management, disaster risk reduction and climate change vulnerability. Ridge to reef approach is best.
- In the medium-term, the Sustainable Forest Management Act of 2011 already approved at the House of Representatives as consolidated HB 5485 should be given priority and enacted into law. SFM, within the context of river basins/watersheds and integrated ecosystem strategies, is the main framework of the proposed legislation. It also provides among other key features the sustainable utilization of forest products from natural forests to support the forest industry and upland development without jeopardy to the maintenance of the various ecosystem services from our forests. Forest management units will be managed principally by communities assisted by local government for economic-ecologic objectives including climate change.
- The LGUs should talk to people living in disaster vulnerable areas to move to safer grounds. In the absence of a Land-use law, the provincial councils should exercise their current authority to properly classify their geographic areas based on "best use" principle. But we badly need a land-use law with provision for funds to relocate residents in disaster-prone areas.
- Enforce and review Comprehensive Land Use Plans and remove settlements and structures in danger zones identified in geo-hazard maps.
Victor O. Ramos
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Secretary
Ricardo M. Umali
President and Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR USEC and Acting Secretary
Fulgencio S. Factoran Jr.
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Secretary
Horacio C. Ramos
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Secretary
Rene de Rueda
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Undersecretary
Jeremias Dolino
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Undersecretary
Rolando L. Metin
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Undersecretary
Abelardo Palad
Vice-President/Member of the Board of Trustees
Former Director of Land Management Bureau
Joel Muyco
Treasurer/Member of the Board of Trustees
Former Director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau
Wilfredo Pollisco
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former Director Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau
Gregorio Magdaraog
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Assistant Secretary
Luis Jacinto
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former Regional Executive Director
Donna Z. Gasgonia
Board Secretary
Former Secretary of National Anti-Poverty Commission
Lirio T. Abuyuan
Member of the Board of Trustees
Former DENR Assistant Secretary
Ebert Bautista
Auditor/ Member of the Board of Trustees
Former Director NFDO
RICARDO M. UMALIwww.sustec.org
President and CEO
Sustainable Ecosystems International Corp.
19-A Matimtiman St., Teacher's Village West
Diliman, Quezon City, Philipines
Tel (632) 929-4235, 436 - 3971 Fax (632) 436-3971
(The Sound Environmental Governance Inc. (SEGI) is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The NGO is composed of former DENR officials or employees with recognized expertise or significant contribution in the fields of forestry, mining, lands, protected areas, ecosystems research, and environment including waste/emission management.
We are committed to promote advocacy on certain environment and natural resources issues and share them with all those concerned to improve the ENR sector and promote sound governance. We believe that our collective wealth of experience and expertise that span over a hundred years can stimulate action from the government, the private sector, civil society and all other actors in sustainable development.)
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