The National Greening Program (NGP) is a priority program of the government that aims to reduce poverty; promote food security, environmental stability, and biodiversity conservation; and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is, therefore, not a straightforward reforestation effort but a larger program intended to attain other important national objectives as well.
This Policy Note briefly reviews the performance so far of the NGP at the national and regional levels based on available data and information from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Commission on Audit, and from a recent study conducted by PIDS. The study concludes with some recommendations that can be done in the interim to improve the conduct of the NGP. These include raising the program`s replanting rate performance at the national, regional, and site levels; reporting on the survival rates of the planted seeds at all levels; and submitting a report of the expenditure side of the program`s implementation and holding a consequent audit at all levels to determine the efficiency of the program and promote transparency. This Note also discusses the newly commenced NGP impact assessment project being conducted by PIDS and other program-related developments. This impact assessment should provide further recommendations for the implementation of the program in its closing years and the conduct of future reforestation programs.