Practical Experiences in Combining Poverty and Environment at the National Level: The National Greening Program of the Philippines

The Philippines’ remaining forest cover accounts for only 23% of the country’s land area. This compelled then President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to issue Executive Order (EO) No. 23, immediately banning logging in natural forests and intensified forest protection. On 24 February 2011, EO No. 26 was signed launching the National Greening Program to fully rehabilitate the country’s denuded lands and further enhancing EO No. 23. The National Greening Program is the country’s banner program for forest rehabilitation with target of planting 1.5 billion seedlings covering 1.5 million hectares from 2011 to 2016. The NGP aims to address poverty reduction, food security, environmental stability, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The program adopts the following strategies: (i) social mobilization; (ii) harmonization of greening initiatives of the government, private sector, and civil society; (iii) provision of incentives, e.g., conditional cash transfer; and (iv) application of science and technology.