SUD Policy Advocacy page 1 of 6

SUD Policy Advocacy
Chronology of Events leading to a National Policy on Sustainable Upland Development
and Proposed Mechanisms for National Replication of the SUD Model

Overview on the Uplands

The Philippine uplands face huge development challenges due to the magnitude of destruction from their original state.

This destruction has had severe consequences for the upland population depending on the upland resource base.

The uplands, directly linked with the lowland and coastal zones, are an integral part of the ecological system. Therefore their destruction also results in decreasing production and revenue in the prime lowland ecological zones.

Furthermore the protection of the uplands relates to the preservation of forests which is vital for ecological balance. The supply of water and many other life-giving resources are largely dependent on the health of the uplands.

For these reasons and more, the Philippine uplands must be conserved for the survival and development of the country.

A primary cause of upland destruction in the country is the indiscriminate legal and illegal logging in the past. Another major factor is the upland migration of people from the lowlands due to their search for better livelihood. In addition, the taking over by large agri-business groups of vast tracts of gently sloping lowland plantations leaves many poor communities with no other option than to expand cultivation onto steep to very steep slopes.

These inhabitants practice the slash and burn farming method and other unsustainable technologies that are not suited to farming on steep uplands, which has resulted in severe soil erosion, low productivity and therefore very low income and quality of life.

All this destruction has also resulted in extreme poverty in terms of biodiversity in the uplands.

The alarming state of the uplands provided the rationale for the Upland Development Programme in Southern Mindanao or UDP, a special project of the Government of the Philippines executed by the Department of Agriculture and supported by a grant from the European Union.

UDP's two-fold objective was to develop and test a replicable model to sustain the resource base of the uplands and improve the living standards of people who derive most of their incomes from the uplands.

The model that was to be developed, aside from providing environmental and economic security, must have the following fundamental characteristics such as :

• Participatory in approach
• Supportive legal framework, good local governance
• Emphasis on capacity building
• Practical Demonstration
• Sustainability
• Replicability

Since its inception in 1999 up to 2005, many approaches and technologies were tested in 144 upland barangays in 38 municipalities of the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, Sarangani and South Cotabato.

Page [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Next