ANNEXES
Institutional capability building for effective community resources management implementation; and Recognition of the community’s forest resources access and utilization rights. Adoption of a Sustainable Strategy Based on the lessons learned and experiences in more than two (2) decades of implementing various people-oriented forestry programs in the Philippines, the government has developed a strategy that is more equitable and holistic. Now, all efforts geared towards the development of forestlands adopt Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) as the principal strategy to ensure sustainable development of the country’s forestlands resources and achieve social justice in consonance with the provisions of Executive Order (EO) No. 263. Briefly, CBFM as a strategy refers to all organized efforts of all forestry stakeholders to work with communities in and adjacent to public forest lands with the intent to empower and entrust to them the protection, rehabilitation, management, conservation and the utilization of forest lands and resources. Through the CBFM, the DENR advances the cause of forest-dependent communities in their quest for improved well-being as well as for the legitimization of their rights to peacefully occupy, manage and reap the benefits from their forestlands in a responsible and sustainable manner. Basic Policies The enabling policy for the implementation of CBFM is embodied in Executive Order No. 263. It pursues the constitutional provisions on social justice, respect for the rights of the Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral domains, and the protection and advancement of the right of the Filipino people to a healthful and balanced environment. S E RV I C E D E L I V E R Y W I T H I M P A C T: R E S O U R C E B O O K S F O R L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T
147