In response to the growing concern that policy research should directly address the problem of overexploitation of Philippine natural resources, specifically in the area of upland and forestry development, the PIDS commissioned several researchers to prepare assessment papers for various policy issues in forestry. Four major topic are identified for these papers namely land use and commercial forest resource management, macroeconomic policies affecting forest resource management, macroeconomic policies effecting forestry, upland development including the shifting cultivation problem and soil erosion and watershed management.
These assessment studies are presented in a PIDS seminar-workshop, with the theme “Economic Policy for Forest Resources Management”, conducted at the Club Solviento, Calamba, Laguna in February 1984. The main objective of the seminar-workshop has been to discuss policy issues and identify research gaps in forest resources management.
This report presents an overview of Philippine forestry and introduces some of the key economic concepts of resource use and management. The introduction is followed by a summary of each of the seminar-workshop papers together with the highlights of the discussion and open forum for each portion that includes an agenda for policy research on forestry and upland development.
