03/05/2026
NCIP, DENR, church highlight need to document IP forest protection practices
TUBLAY, Benguet - Customary forest protection practices which experts now recognize as a sustainable way of managing the Earth’s resources need to be documented so that the future generations may continue to benefit from nature’s bounty and protection.
In the lecture series on indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP) and the Rights of Nature framework organized by Caritas-Baguio, last April 28 at Barangay Tuel, Forester Fernando Siadto said modern laws on forest protection and land use are patterned after IKSPs.
Bontoc’s tayan system and Ifugao’s muyong are stricter versions of the Forestry Code and land use plan, Siadto said.
In the tayan and muyong systems, clans manage their communal forest by regulating the use of resources like wood, flora, food, water, and even animals.
Siadto said several researches have shown that communal forests managed by indigenous cultural communities have exhibited a healthy biodiversity -- indications of a balanced ecology.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples also recognizes the contribution of IPs in preserving what remains of the ancestral domains of indigenous cultural communities (ICC).
NCIP Community Affairs Officer Johnpen Dalos said there are lesser known forest protection practices by ICCs but these remain undocumented. He stressed the need for continuous research as these can be formally adopted into governmental policies or passed on to the younger generation.
Dalos said a written document of ICC practices could also serve as a solid reference for at present, the lack of or absence of a written and validated document have resulted in varying interpretations of IP rights over their ancestral domain.
He laments that some clan members have portioned their ancestral domain and sold it to non-members of their clan when the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act expressly prohibits selling of ancestral domain because of the community’s collective ownership of the domain.
Diocese of Baguio Social Action Commission Environment Committee member Hector Kawig agrees that customary practices helped preserve the biodiversity at areas where IPs commonly dwell. But modernization have changed how natural resources are now being used.
Kawig said the massive deforestation and the global effects of climate change gave rise to movements calling for the passage of laws that focus on the “rights of nature” (RON). ced IPs but also resulted in habitat loss and even the emergence or reemergence of diseases.
Kawig said the massive takeover of forests and the global effect of climate change gave rise to movements calling for the passage of laws that focus on the “rights of nature” (RON).
If the Philippines passes a RON law, Kawig said, nature is not the only one that will benefit. The proposed measures pending in Congress puts emphasis on humans being the stewards of environment, hence puts more responsibility on every individual to do their part in caring for their surroundings.
Advocates see RON as a paradigm shift with the way humans see nature -- from a mere source of resources, to a living entity that also have rights.
If the Philippines passes a RON law, Kawig said nature is not the only one that will benefit. The proposed measures pending in Congress puts emphasis on humans being the stewards of environment, hence putting more responsibility on every individual to do their part in caring for their surroundings.
Countries that have a RON are Ecuador, some states in the USA, Bolivia, India, New Zealand, and Panama.
In the Philippines, there are at least five proposals filed in the Lower and Upper Houses of Congress as early as 2022, but this has not been extensively deliberated yet.* Caritas-Baguio
