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Inventory Procedures for Smallholder and Community Woodlots in the Philippines: Methods, Initial Findings and Insights

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Abstract

This paper details the processes and challenges involved in collecting inventory data from smallholder and community woodlots on Leyte Island, Philippines. Over the period from 2005 through to 2012, 253 woodlots at 170 sites were sampled as part of a large multidisciplinary project, resulting in a substantial timber inventory database. The inventory was undertaken to provide information for three separate but interrelated studies, namely (1) tree growth, performance and timber availability from private smallholder woodlots on Leyte Island; (2) tree growth and performance of mixed-species plantings of native species; and (3) the assessment of reforestation outcomes from various forms of reforestation. A common procedure for establishing plots within each site was developed and applied in each study, although the basis of site selection varied. A two-stage probability proportion to size sampling framework was developed to select smallholder woodlots for inclusion in the inventory. In contrast, community-based forestry woodlots were selected using stratified random sampling. Challenges encountered in undertaking the inventory were mostly associated with the need to consult widely before the commencement of the inventory and problems in identifying woodlots for inclusion. Most smallholder woodlots were only capable of producing merchantable volumes of less than 44 % of the site potential due to a lack of appropriate silviculture. There was a clear bimodal distribution of proportion that the woodlots comprised of the total smallholding area. This bimodality reflects two major motivations for smallholders to establish woodlots, namely timber production and to secure land tenure.

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Notes

  1. A barangay is the smallest unit of local government in the Philippines and is approximately equivalent to a village.

  2. In a previous study, some community members misinterpreted written consent as being a means of signing them up for membership of an insurgency group, and were unhappy about providing written consent (Cedamon and Emtage 2005).

  3. Examples of recording sheets are provided in Supplementary Materials 1.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr Grant Wardell-Johnson in the design of sampling procedures and in the initial training of field staff. We are indebted to the team of excellent field workers who undertook this inventory, including Glen Monterola, Sammual Bernaldez, Chris Solano and Florante Morales. John Herbohn would like to acknowledge support provided by a Charles Bullard Fellowship at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University during which time much of the initial data analysis and manuscript preparation was undertaken. The authors would also like to acknowledge the useful comments made by two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    J. L. Herbohn & J. Vanclay

  2. School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    J. L. Herbohn, H. Ngyuen, H. D. Le, J. Baynes, S. R. Harrison, C. Smith & N. O. Gregorio

  3. College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Visayas State University, Visca, Baybay, Leyte, 6521, Philippines

    E. Cedamon, E. Mangaoang & E. Lamarre

  4. School of Biogeosciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, 4001, Australia

    J. Firn

Authors
  1. J. L. Herbohn
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  2. J. Vanclay
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  3. H. Ngyuen
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  4. H. D. Le
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  5. J. Baynes
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  6. S. R. Harrison
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  7. E. Cedamon
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  10. N. O. Gregorio
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  11. E. Mangaoang
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Correspondence to J. L. Herbohn.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 3018 kb)

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Herbohn, J.L., Vanclay, J., Ngyuen, H. et al. Inventory Procedures for Smallholder and Community Woodlots in the Philippines: Methods, Initial Findings and Insights. Small-scale Forestry 13, 79–100 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-013-9242-6

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