2 THE CONTEXT OFLANDCARE INLANTAPAN

13

2The context of landcare in Lantapanhe Municipality of Lantapan covers an area ofaround 33,000 ha and forms part of the uppercatchment of the Manupali River (Coxhead andBuenavista 2001). It is bordered by the Mt Kitanglad Rangeon the north, with peaks as high as 2,900 m, and by theManupali River on the south. Hence the municipalityembraces several sub-catchments draining from the MtKitanglad Range south or south-east into the Manupali River.In the lower part of the municipality there is a dam thatdiverts water into the Manupali River Irrigation System,

constructed in 1987 with a service area of 4,000 ha. The

Manupali eventually flows into the Pulangi River, a few

kilometres above the Pulangi IV hydroelectric plant.

In terms of administrative boundaries, Lantapan borders the

municipalities of Sumilao and Impasugong to the north,

Malaybalay to the east, Valencia to the south, and Talakag

to the west, and includes within its boundaries about 7,000

ha or 23 per cent of the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park.

Just over a third of Lantapan’s land area is classified as public

forest land, under the nominal custodianship of the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Thus farmers in Lantapan are occupying a highly sensitive

environment and their land management practices have

implications for natural resource management well beyond

their farm boundaries. The bio-physical and socio-economic

environment of Lantapan has been described in great detail

due to the activities of the USAID-funded Sustainable

Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM-CRSP)

that began in 1993 (Coxhead and Buenavista, eds., 2001).

This chapter draws heavily on reports from that project.

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTThe Lantapan landscape rises from river flats at 400-600 m,

through a rolling middle section at 600-1,100 m, to steeply

sloped mountains at 1,100-2,200 m, with an average

elevation of 600 m. Table 2.1 shows that while much of the

landscape is gently sloping to rolling (slope

14

Landcare in Bukidnon

POPULATION

The TalaandigThe population of Lantapan comprises roughly 15 per cent

indigenous Talaandig, 32 per cent Bukidnon and other

indigenous groups, and 51 per cent migrant groups

(dumagat) such as Cebuano from the Visayas and Igorot

from Northern Luzon (Paunlagui and Suminguit 2001). The

Talaandig, Bukidnon and Higaonon are very closely related

ethnically and linguistically (Gatmaytan 2002) and are often

collectively referred to as Bukidnon, a term of Cebuano

origin meaning “mountain dweller”. The language of the

Bukidnon groups (Binukid) is one of 15 Manobo languages

that form a subgroup of the Austronesian family of

languages.

The Talaandig number perhaps 100,000 in total and reside

in Lantapan and other municipalities around the foothills of

the Mt Kitanglad Range, which they regard as their ancestral

domain (Saway 2002). Talaandig communities are guided

by a set of customs (batasan) that are sanctioned by

traditional religious beliefs and practices. They have a rich

oral tradition expressed in narratives, epics, poems and

songs. Belief in gods and spirits who guard and protect the

natural and human environment is manifested in the rituals

performed when establishing a farm, after harvest, when

hunting, and at other significant times in the life of the

household and community. Illness is treated through herbal

medicines and rituals performed by traditional healers

(mananambal).

Talaandig traditional leaders (datu), though not hereditary,

are confirmed in their role through community rituals and

command a high degree of respect and influence. The datu

is a “mediator and a leader” whose “major role is to

intervene in conflicting relationships in order to secure

peace and harmony in the community” (Saway 2002).

Traditionally, a small number of “high datu” (dadatu-on)

exercised territorial jurisdiction over communities in several

river valleys (Edgerton 1982). Under them, head datu

presided over areas or settlements (tulugan) that were

usually confined to one river valley, occupied by 40-50

closely related nuclear families. “These chiefs controlled

the land and its use in their immediate environs, determining

which families would work which swidden plots” (Edegerton

1982: 365). There were also lesser datu or elders whose

status derived from their knowledge of customary law and

their success in settling disputes.

The traditional Talaandig economy was based on shifting

cultivation (Saway 2002). Households cultivated rice, maize,

taro, sweet potato, squash, beans, and banana, mainly for

subsistence. Coffee and abaca were early cash crops. Pigs

and chickens were raised for religious purposes while large

animals such as horses and carabao were used for payment

of debts and other obligations. Household members also

engaged in hunting and food gathering in the surrounding

forest. Traditional technology included blacksmithing,

weaving, and embroidery.

Gatmaytan (2002) undertook a study of resource ownership

in the Talaandig community of Sitio Lantud, Barangay

Sagaran, in the neighbouring municipality of Talakag. He

found that land-holdings (angkon-angkon) were owned by

individuals and households rather than communally. Land

was inherited from parents or ancestors who were the first

to clear and occupy the area. Inheritance was bilateral and

An irrigation canal in the Manupali River Irrigation System,downstream from Lantapan Municipality

A typical Lantapan landscape with Mt Kitanglad RangeNatural Park in the background

Figure 2.1 Monthly average rainfall in Lantapan, 1994-8(Coxhead and Buenavista 2001, p.15)

15

2The context of landcare in Lantapanrestricted to direct descendants. The landholder had full

control, including the right to sell, give, or otherwise dispose

of the land.

Typically, households owned many lots of varying size,

reflecting the traditional pattern of shifting cultivation,

though the trend was towards sedentary farming. For

example, one informant had five separate lots totalling 8

ha. None of the residents had a document of title, though a

number had real estate tax declarations. Nevertheless,

Gatamaytan found that “local residents are familiar with the

respective landholdings of their neighbours” (2002: 21).

Apart from a community wood lot (panagana), there was

also individual ownership of trees; i.e., the owner had to

give permission to fell trees, especially for commercial use

(Gatmaytan 2002). Nevertheless, there had been no conflict

with logging concessionaires who operated in the area in

the past. Rattan cutting, hunting and trapping were largely

unregulated, except for the setting of spear traps (la-is),

which were a potential hazard to humans. Fish and aquatic

resources were also subject to open access for members

of the community.

Migration and Population GrowthThe demography of Lantapan has been analysed by

Paunlagui and Suminguit (2001). In 1948 Lantapan was a

barangay of 668 residents within the Municipality of

Malaybalay. Due to rapid population growth in the 1950s

and especially the 1960s, it was declared a municipality in

1968, and by 1995 it had grown to 14 barangay. From a

total of 1,670 in 1960, the population of Lantapan grew to

14,500 in 1970, to 22,700 in 1980, to 33,350 in 1990, and to

36,950 in 1995 (Fig. 2.3). This represented a growth rate of

4.3 per cent from 1960 to 1995, almost double the

Philippines average.

The earlier growth in population was largely due to in-

migration, especially from the 1950s to 1970s. The migrants

were from the Visayas (mainly Cebu and Bohol) and Luzon

(mainly Mountain Province and Benguet). Migration was

spontaneous rather than government sponsored, with early

migrants returning to their home provinces to recruit others

in a process termed “chain migration”. Continuing growth

from the 1980s was due to a rapid rise in the rate of natural

increase due to improved health and nutrition (i.e., a decline

in the death rate). There is now evidence that population

growth is beginning to decline, due to a declining birth rate

and increasing out-migration (Paunlagui and Suminguit

2001).

In 1995 the 0-14 age group was 42 per cent of the total

population, reflecting the rapid growth in the preceding

decades. Almost half the population was in the reproductive

age group (15-45), implying that the population would

continue to grow for many decades. There were more males

than females, probably due to greater male in-migration

and, more recently, greater female out-migration to urban

centres for employment (Paunlagui and Suminguit 2001).

The estimated population in 2000 was 43,406, giving a

population density of 136 persons per sq. km (Paunlagui

and Suminguit 2001). This was projected to rise to 114,198

by 2030, or 359 persons per sq. km. There were only 0.39

hectares of arable land per person in 2000. In 1980 the

modal farm size was 1-3 ha, accounting for 46 per cent of

farms. Seventy five per cent of farms were less than 5 ha.

In the 2002 survey of Barangay Sungco reported in Chapter

4, the modal farm size was still 1-3 ha, but this size class

accounted for only 33 per cent of farms, and 69 per cent of

farms were less than 5 ha, a reduction from 1980. This

suggests a degree of land accumulation by farmers in the

larger size classes, hence greater inequality in the

distribution of land.

An important factor in the maintenance of average farm

size has been the growth in off-farm and non-farm

employment. A 1996 survey indicated that 66 per cent of

all labour was mainly employed in on-farm activities, 7 per

cent mainly in off-farm activities, and 27 per cent mainly in

non-farm activities (Rola and Coxhead 2001). The trend to

increasing off-farm and non-farm employment has

continued, especially with the growth of agribusiness in

Lantapan such as the Dole-Skyland and MKAVI banana

plantations and commercial pig and poultry operations.

Nevertheless, most of the population, residing in about

5,500 farm households, remained primarily dependent on

agriculture and were living close to the poverty line. In 1988,

food accounted for 59 per cent of average household

expenditures in the municipality, fuel for 4 per cent, and

clothing for 5 per cent (Paunlagui and Suminguit 2001).

Figure 2.3 Population of Lantapan, 1948-2000 (Paunlaguiand Suminguit 2001)

16

Landcare in Bukidnon

LAND USE AND LAND DEGRADATION

Trends in land useThe history of land use in Lantapan has been outlined by

Coxhead and Buenavista (2001). As noted above, the

indigenous Talaandig traditionally practised shifting

cultivation, as well as utilising the resources of the forest.

At the end of the Second World War, most sloping and high-

altitude land was forested. Agriculture at that time consisted

of maize, cassava and coffee production. In the 1950s Igorot

migrants from Northern Luzon introduced commercial

cultivation of potatoes, cabbages, and other temperate-

climate vegetables. In 1977, the construction of a sugar mill

25 km south of Lantapan by the Bukidnon Sugar Milling

Corporation (BUSCO) gave rise to sugarcane cultivation in

Lantapan’s lower elevations. In the 1980s, road

improvements and the expansion of Cagayan de Oro port

stimulated agricultural exports from Mindanao to other parts

of the Philippines, especially maize and vegetables. Maize

became a commercial crop and vegetable production grew

in area and value. Both were supported by agricultural

protection, whereas coffee was penalised by export taxes,

contributing to its demise.

Encroachment on Lantapan’s forest was initially due to

logging and forest fires, but in recent decades agricultural

expansion has resulted in the replacement of forest and

permanent crops by annual crops (Coxhead and Buenavista

2001). From 1973 to 1994, the area of permanent forest

declined from 52 per cent to 29 per cent; the area of maize,

vegetables and sugarcane increased from 28 per cent to

49 per cent; and the area of shrubs and trees (mostly

secondary growth) increased from 9 per cent to 17 per cent.

In the process, agriculture has spread up-slope. At lower

elevations (0-650 m), the agricultural land area increased

from 55 to 75 per cent, and at middle elevations (650-1000

m), from 24 to 63 per cent. Accordingly, agriculture

increased in all slope classes (Table 2.1).

The current pattern of land use is that maize and sugarcane

predominate on the lower slopes. Moving upslope,

sugarcane phases out due to increased transport costs to

the BUSCO mill; hence, in the middle altitudes, maize is

the dominant crop. At higher altitudes, maize is cultivated

along with temperate-climate vegetable crops – beans,

tomatoes, cabbages, and potatoes.

Because of the commercial orientation of land use, market

prices and government price policies have a major effect

on local land-use decisions. Coxhead et al. (2001)

demonstrated that markets for the major crops in Lantapan

(maize, potato, and cabbage) were well integrated with

regional markets, i.e., farmers were price takers in regional

and national markets. They found that poorer, more risk-

averse farmers tended to grow maize because of lower

levels of price- and yield-uncertainty and the option of

consuming their product in the event of market collapse.

Less risk-averse farmers tended to grow a mix of maize and

vegetable crops.

In addition to these trends in smallholder agriculture, two

banana plantations were established in Lantapan beginning

in late 1999 – one by Dole-Skyland and the other by Mt

Kitanglad Agri-Ventures Inc. (MKAVI). Both companies

leased what had been prime maize and sugarcane lands

from farmers under 25-year agreements, Dole-Skyland

paying an annual rental of P15,000 per ha and MKAVI

P12,000 per ha. The plantations employed local labourers

at P160 per day, double the prevailing wage rate.

MKAVI began operations in 1999 with 250 ha in Barangay

Alanib and had expanded to 800 ha by mid-2002. According

to MKAVI management, the company had spent P23.8

million on ecosystem and soil conservation, and about 360

ha of the plantation had been planted with trees

(MindaNews 26 July 2002). Details of Dole-Skyland’s

operations were more difficult to ascertain, but by 2003 its

plantation area exceeded 1,000 ha.

Slash and burn agriculture is still practisedin some areas of Lantapan, thoughpermanent cropping is now the norm

17

2The context of landcare in Lantapanforest cover dropped below about 30 per cent andagricultural land exceeded 50 per cent.Coxhead and Buenavista (2001) cite evidence of waterquality deterioration and of sedimentation and siltation inthe Manupali River Irrigation Scheme diversion dam andirrigation canals, and in the Pulangi IV reservoir.Coxhead and Buenavista (2001) draw two conclusions fromevidence gathered by SANREM researchers: “First, thenatural resource base of the Manupali watershed is

undergoing degradation of a nature and at a rate without

modern precedent, with potentially serious consequences

especially for water quality. Second, much if not most of

the degradation can be attributed directly or indirectly to

the spread of intensive agricultural systems based on corn

and vegetables, without the concurrent adoption of

appropriate measures for the prevention of soil erosion and

land quality deterioration” (Coxhead and Buenavista 2001:

26-27).

Midmore et al. (2001) report research on vegetable farms

in Lantapan undertaken during 1994-8. Half of the farms

were cultivated up and down the slope for ease of operation

and to enhance drainage. One third were on slopes greater

than 18%. This “predisposed much of the land to soil erosion

and runoff” (2001: 95). Annual soil loss was found to be

due to just a few major rainfall events. Tomato was found

to lead to more annual erosion (21 t/ha) than maize or

cabbage (15 t/ha).

However, the cropping sequence was an important

influence on erosion (Midmore et al. 2001). For example,

planting tomato during September required careful soil

management because of the higher rainfall; it was

considered better to plant maize at that time. Maize following

cabbage led to more erosion than maize following tomato,

as maize grew better on the residual nutrients following

tomato and so provided more vegetative cover. Measured

erosion ranged from 13 t/ha for a sweet pepper-fallow-

cabbage sequence on a 20% slope, to 54 t/ha for a maize-

cabbage-tomato sequence on a 42% slope.

Experiments showed that contouring and hedgerows led

to significantly less soil loss and runoff than up-and-down

cultivation (13-16 t/ha compared with 23 t/ha). However,

there was serious degradation in the upper part of plots

due to scouring, suggesting that the “overall impacts of soil

erosion could be large even if soil per se is not removed by

erosion from the fields and landscape” (Midmore et al. 2001:

103). This corresponded to Stark’s (2000) findings in

Claveria.

A feature of the land-use pattern in the 1990s was the extent

of land under grass fallow. Midmore et al. (2001) found that

Since the late 1990s there has been rapid growth in the

number of large-scale, intensive pig and poultry businesses

in Lantapan, particularly in Barangay Capitan Juan, which

has direct road access to Malaybalay. At the time of this

study about 60 per cent of the farmers in Capitan Juan were

employed in poultry farms. In addition, there were four

telecommunication projects in the barangay.

Table 2.2 shows the current pattern of land use based on

data provided by the municipal office. Half the land in the

municipality is used for agriculture and nearly half the

agricultural land is allocated for banana and sugarcane

cultivation. Maize continues to be the dominant annual crop,

often in rotation with vegetable and root crops. Forty per

cent of the land area is designated as forest land, half of

which falls within the Mt Kitanglad Range Natural Park.

Table 2.2 Current land use in Lantapan

Land Use Area (ha) Percentage

Agricultural 17,640 49.7

- banana, sugarcane 8,473 23.9

- maize 7,928 22.4

- rice 512 1.4

- vegetable and root crops 510 1.4

- coffee 217 0.6

Forest production and protection 14,250 40.2

Settlement 3,575 10.1

Total 35,465 100.0

Source: Lantapan Municipal Office

Land degradationThe encroachment of farmers into Lantapan’s forest lands

has caused the loss of forest biodiversity as well as the

degradation of soil and water resources. The changing

pattern of agricultural land use has accentuated this process.

The expansion of sugar and maize at lower altitudes and of

maize and vegetables at higher altitudes has occurred at

the expense of perennial vegetation, whether grassland,

bush fallow, or coffee. This has resulted in loss of water

retention capacity in the upper catchment and a rapid

increase in soil erosion and degradation.

Deutsch et al. (2001) analysed water quality data collected

by Tigbantay Wahig, a community water-monitoring group,

from four adjacent sub-catchments in Lantapan. The data

showed an increasing trend from the western to the eastern

sub-catchments in indicators of soil erosion such as total

suspended solids (TSS) and soil export rate. This was closely

correlated with higher population, a lower proportion of

forested land, and a higher proportion of agricultural land

in the eastern sub-catchments. There appeared to be an

abrupt increase in erosion indicators when sub-catchment

18

Landcare in Bukidnon

one fifth of farmers had land that had been in fallow for one

or more years. The lack of labour and capital to utilise

fallowed lands was thought to have been a factor. Fallowed

land was found to be more acidic, poorer in organic matter,

lower in K and Ca, and higher in Al than currently cropped

land. Hence conversion to cropping would require ample

fertilisers ands soil amendments. The evidence suggested

that fertile land was used first for vegetable crops, then for

maize (once bacterial wilt made land unsuitable for tomato

or potato), and was finally left to fallow in a “downward

spiral of productivity and fertility” (Midmore et al. 2001:99).

After an average of 3.7 years, fallowed lands were

recultivated. Farmers often spread stems and seeds of wild

sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) over fallow land as a way

of reclaiming it from cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica), a

practice introduced by Igorot migrants (Garrity et al. 2001).

However, it was considered that tree crops, if they could

generate an income, were a better alternative for these

fallow lands than vegetable crops. Intercropping with timber

species such as Eucalyptus torreliana and E. deglupta was

becoming increasingly attractive in the 1990s, given

declining yields of vegetables and declining labour

availability.

Adoption of soil conservation practicesRola and Coxhead (2001) analysed survey data for 120

Lantapan households collected from 1996 to 1999. They

found that more maize farmers practised soil conservation

than vegetable farmers, and that labour-saving conservation

techniques (trees, fallow) were usually preferred to labour-

using techniques (contour ploughing, hedgerows).

There was evidence that growth in non-farm incomes, and

a corresponding decline in labour available on-farm,

encouraged moves to less labour-intensive crops such as

coffee and tree crops, with favourable impacts on soil

conservation, but also discouraged adoption of labour-using

soil conservation technologies, particularly contour

hedgerows. The survey data showed the percentage of plots

with contours and hedgerows declined from 16 per cent in

1996 to 5 per cent in 1999, whereas plots with trees or fallow

increased from 25 per cent to 68 per cent.

A logit model applied to the household survey data indicated

that the adoption of labour-using conservation measures

(contour ploughing, hedgerows) was significantly influenced

by the slope of the farm, the age of the farmer, the ratio of

non-farm to total workers (NFE), and the season (wet or

dry), but not by tenure status. That is, there was more

adoption of such measures with increasing slope and age,

less adoption as the NFE ratio increased, and less adoption

in the dry season (perhaps due to fallowing).

Midmore et al. (2001) identified High External Input (HEI)

and Lower External Input (LEI) groups of vegetable farmers.

The HEI group had a higher proportion of land under

vegetable crops (tomato, potato, cabbage, Chinese

cabbage), more crops per year, higher pesticide expenses,

higher tomato yields, and higher gross value of vegetable

output. Both groups had similar perceptions regarding the

causes of soil erosion (deforestation and cropping practices)

and remedies (contour farming and cover cropping).

However, contour hedgerows utilising shrub legumes were

not seen to be suitable due to their labour requirements,

use of space, and the perceived lack of need for biologically

fixed N, given that N fertilisers were widely used and P was

probably the limiting factor.

A farm planning exercise conducted by ICRAF in three buffer

zone villages found that there was greatest interest in

establishing contour hedgerows on annual crop areas (up

to 1 ha) and increasing fruit and timber tree crops on the

remainder (Garrity et al. 2001). ICRAF introduced the

technique of natural vegetative strips (NVS) in the mid-

1990s, soon after it began to catch on in Claveria, and found

a good response among farmers, even before the initiation

of the Landcare Program.

The widespread adoption of natural vegetative strips (NVS) ischanging the landscape of Lantapan

One of a number of the SANREM research sites in theManupali catchment at Lantapan

19

2The context of landcare in LantapanTHE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTThe institutional environment in Lantapan is characterisedby three overlapping domains – the municipal government,the Mt Kitanglad Range Natural Park, and the Talaandigancestral domain. All three are relevant to the LandcareProgram and are discussed in turn in this section.Municipal GovernmentLantapan was declared a sixth class municipality in 1968.

Since then, there have been nine elected and appointed

mayors. The municipality struggled to support its early

operations with meagre funds (Annual Report, 2001). Since

1999, Lantapan has been a third class municipality and

operates under the guidelines of a first class municipality.

In 2001 it had a budget of P32.8 million, operated 12 organic

offices, and employed a total workforce of 141 permanent

and temporary employees.

The 1991 Local Government Code provided the impetus

for devolving health, agriculture and social welfare services

to the municipalities. Accordingly, in 1993 Lantapan

established the Municipal Agriculture Office with 13

Agricultural Technicians (AT). The ATs have specialised skills

but also function as generalists in their area of assignment.

The estimated ratio of farm households to ATs is 483:1.

Extension programs focus on assisting farmers in

commodity-oriented production systems, livestock

improvement, cooperative development, and training,

particularly in livestock management.

A Community Development Assistant (CDA) is presently

employed by the provincial government to assist in the

implementation of local environmental programs and

supervision of activities in Integrated Social Forestry (ISF)

areas. Three forest guards from DENR also patrol the forest

areas, including the historic Cinchona Forest Reserve. The

LGU is now preparing for the creation of a Municipal

Environment Office, which will lead the implementation of

all natural resource and watershed management activities

(Rubio, N., pers. comm.).

In 2001, the Agriculture Office received a budget of

P2,372,230, which is only 7 per cent of the total municipal

budget. Expenditure on personnel amounted to P1,943,330

and the remaining P428,900 was allocated for maintenance

and other operating expenditures. Funding for special

projects depended on Local Development Funds and grants

and aid. For example, the Regional Agriculture Office has

provided an annual grant of P675,000 for cattle dispersal

since 2001.

The municipality has also allocated P358,000 from 1999 to

2002 for the implementation of the Municipal Natural

Resource Management and Development Plan.

Subsequently, the money was utilised to support watershed-

planning activities. The municipal government claimed that

inadequate financial resources for natural resource

management results in poor implementation of programs,

but this sector is given lower priority than infrastructure

and social development programs.

Local government units are encouraged to create councils,

committees, taskforces, and boards to increase public

participation in decision-making and planning. Between

1999 and 2002, Lantapan created 31 local “special bodies”,

including the Municipal Land Use Committee, the Watershed

Management Council, the Solid Waste Management Board,

the Taskforce Kalikasan at Kalinisan sa Kapaligiran, the

Landcare Advisory Committee, the Landcare Trust Fund

Committee, and the Local Health Board. The Municipal

Development Council (MDC) is a multi-sectoral body that

subjects all major development programs to scrutiny, hence

it is regarded as the highest local special body.

In compliance with various provincial and national

mandates, Lantapan has completed a Comprehensive Land

Use Plan, a Forest Land Use Plan, Special Agriculture and

Fisheries Development Zoning, Crop Zoning, and a

Watershed Management Plan. The formulation of the

Municipal Natural Resource Management and Development

Plan in 1998 was a significant local planning initiative

backed-up by research and citizen participation (Garrity et

al. 2001, Sumbalan and Buenavista 2001). In addition, the

Legislative Council (Sangguniang Bayan) has enacted eight

significant policies to support the aims of sustainable

agriculture and natural resource management:

• regulating bioprospecting activities in Mt. Kitanglad

and its vicinity;

• requiring all farm tillers and owners to adopt contour

farming and other sloping agricultural land

technologies in sloping areas;

• banning the use of aerial spray in any plantation within

Lantapan;

• prohibiting disposal of garbage, farm wastes, and dead

animals in all rivers;

• protection of the environment from stray animals;

• prohibiting pasturing activities in watersheds;

• preventing illegal logging; and

• implementing the Municipal Natural Resource

Management and Development Plan.

The promulgation of such local plans and policies indicates

a major change in emphasis on natural resource

20

Landcare in Bukidnon

management, but most of the policies have no

Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), hence

implementation remains vague and the policies are

unenforced.

Moreover, as in other municipalities, major initiatives remain

subject to the political cycle. For example, the Natural

Resource Management Council established in the mid-

1990s, with support from SANREM researchers, received a

major setback when a new mayor was elected in 1998 who

saw the chair of the Council as a political rival (Sumbalan

and Buenavista 2001). When re-elected in 2001, and more

politically secure, the mayor began to put natural resource

management activities back on the agenda, creating the

Lantapan Watershed Management Council, a multi-sectoral

advisory body including representatives from agribusiness,

NGOs, people’s organisations, members of the legislative

council, and provincial government agencies. Support for

the Landcare Program has also been subject to this political

cycle. The present administration and the Legislative Council

have expressed strong support for Landcare, though this

has not been expressed in practice to the same extent as in

Claveria.

Protected area and ancestral domainThe Mt Kitanglad Range Natural Park (MKRNP) was gazetted

in 1996 under the National Integrated Protected Area System

(NIPAS) Act of 1992 (though it had been designated a

national park under previous legislation in 1990). It

comprises a protected area of around 31,000 ha and a

surrounding buffer zone of around 16,000 ha, affecting 28

barangay in 8 municipalities. It is one of the most important

biodiversity reserves in the Philippines with extremely high

conservation value, yet it has suffered a high rate of habitat

destruction. Hence it is one of 10 NIPAS priority sites under

the World Bank’s Conservation of Priority Protected Areas

Project (CPPAP).

The protected area is mostly pristine forested land at high

altitude (>1,200 masl), whereas the buffer zone has been

mainly converted to agricultural fields, Imperata grasslands,

and secondary growth (Garrity et al. 2001). Though the land

occupied by the Park is classified as public forest land under

the control of the powerful Department of Environment and

Natural Resources (DENR), much of the Park falls within the

ancestral lands of the Talaandig. Almost all the affected

communities (around 2,500 individuals in 450 households)

are in the buffer zone; only one community is inside the

protected area. According to Gatmaytan (2002: 22): “Legally,

the existence of the park does not, and should not negate

the antecedent rights of the [indigenous peoples] to land

and local resources, even if these are located within the

[protected area].” Yet a Talaandig datu he interviewed who

held land inside the protected area felt his lands “may not

be interfered with” (Gatmaytan 2002: 22), that is, he felt he

had lost his rights to utilise the land.

A Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) was instituted

in 1996 with 58 members, including the Park administrators,

the mayors of six municipalities, eight indigenous

representatives, and representatives of other agencies and

interests, including the Kitanglad Integrated NGOs (KIN), a

consortium of non-government organisations with an

interest in the Park. A Council of Elders was also established

comprising 10 indigenous leaders. The Council organised

the Kitanglad Guard Volunteers (KGV) to assist in the

patrolling of the Park.

In 1995 a number of Talaandig datu under the leadership of

Datu Migketay Vic Saway filed a Certificate of Ancestral

Domain Claim (CADC) application for 45,000 ha, including

the entire Park (protected area and buffer zone). This was

referred to the PAMB for endorsement. However, the Board

declined to endorse the application, resulting in a stalemate.

Municipalities have been pushing for separate municipal-

based claims. Some barangay have since lodged their own

smaller-scale ancestral domain claims (Garrity et al. 2001,

Gatmaytan 2002).

Other agenciesOver the past 20 years Lantapan has experienced significant

involvement from a diverse range of institutions, including

non-government organisations, national government

agencies, university researchers, research and development

institutions, and the private sector.

In 1982, Lantapan was a major site of the 10-year Muleta-

Manupali Watershed Reforestation Project, implemented by

the Department of Environment and Natural Resources

(DENR) with funding from the Asian Development Bank

(ADB). The project aimed to rehabilitate the deforestedFarming on the upper slopes below the Mt Kitanglad RangeNatural Park

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2The context of landcare in Lantapanportion of the upper watershed, focusing on ravines andthe margins of rivers, streams and creeks. In 1984, theIntegrated Social Forestry and Community ResourceManagement Programs complemented this project with2,500 hectares of reforestation activities in the upperwatershed. In 1985, Lantapan became one of the pilot sitesof another ADB-funded project, the Bukidnon IntegratedArea Development Project (BIADP).The Australian-funded Pilot Provincial Agricultural Extension

Project (PPAEP) was launched in 1993 to promote

conservation technicians, provide livelihood funds, and build

the capacities of farmers and Agricultural Technicians. The

same year, CARE Philippines implemented livelihood

programs and training in organic farming. Following that,

the Philippine Eagle Foundation implemented a livelihood

program focusing on vegetable production for families on

the forest margin.

From 1994, Lantapan hosted the USAID-funded

Collaborative Research Support Program for Sustainable

Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM-

CRSP). The SANREM program coordinated 16 research and

outreach projects following the principles of a landscape

approach, interdisciplinarity, inter-institutional collaboration,

and participation (Coxhead and Buenavista, 2001). Fifteen

local, national and international research institutions,

universities and NGOs participated in the project, including

ICRAF, the only organisation to establish a site office within

Lantapan. The participatory nature of SANREM research

emphasised capacity building and support for farmer-

cooperators. Hence it helped give rise to ventures such as

the Agroforestry Tree Seed Association of Lantapan

(ATSAL), a group of commercial seed collectors and

producers supported by ICRAF (Koffa and Garrity 2001).

SANREM’s approach thus helped prepare the way for the

Landcare Program.

Other research activities have included an ACIAR-funded

study of phosphorus management in acid soils and the

research of the Consortium for Managing Soil Erosion

(MSEC). The Centre for International Forestry Research

(CIFOR) implemented a project on Adaptive Collaborative

Management (ACM) in a Community-Based Forest

Management area.

In 1999, Heifer Project International launched a major

livestock dispersal program throughout Lantapan. The

Barangay Integrated Development Approach for Nutritional

Improvement (BIDANI) project was also active in the

barangay. More recently, the Agri-aqua Development

Coalition, an NGO specializing in watershed planning, came

to assist communities in planning and networking. A range

of other agricultural extension and rural improvement

initiatives are underway, though project reports were

unavailable and the agencies involved were also difficult to

trace.

Many of these projects have emphasised community

organising. Hence it is quite common, even in a remote

settlement, for a farmer to hold membership in three or

more organisations, with the same individual taking the

leadership role in each. Capacity building has also been a

major activity, in the form of field trips, seminars and training

sessions. These are usually followed by specific livelihood-

related projects. Except for pure research projects, the

provision of financial assistance to individuals and groups

has been common.

In 1998, the municipal government recorded a total of 155

local non-government organisations and people’s

organisations operating within the 14 barangay, though only

36 were government-accredited. Seventeen of these groups

were farmers’ or women’s cooperatives and 45 were

religious groupings.

By 1999 the number of groups had increased to around

200. Since 1999, the Municipal Development Council has

included representatives of three women’s groups, four

religious congregations, a tribal group, and (surprisingly)

only one farmer cooperative.

The number of organisations working in Lantapan can be

attributed to several factors:

• the Local Government Code promotes the

developmental roles of NGOs and the private sector;

• local leaders have demonstrated an ability to lobby for

political support and establish linkages with outside

agencies and projects;

• the critical condition of the watershed has generated

concern and support from outside Lantapan;

• there is a “honeypot effect” in which new projects are

preferentially sited where there is already evidence of

some success.

Lantapan Mayor Narciso Rubio (centre) with members ofvarious organisations from the Lantapan landcarecommunity