Log export restrictions and trade policies in the Philippines: bane or blessing to sustainable forest management?

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the Philippines has begun to adopt the tenets of sustainable forest management (SFM) with respect to the use and management of its forests. Consequently, government policies affecting the forestry sector have been evolving, to reflect the new forest management paradigm. Although the country's forest policies have been mostly economic-oriented, such policies are now directed at multiple goals including social and environmental goals, either through deliberate considerations or on an ad hoc basis. Most of the policies affecting the forestry sector have been implemented since the 1970s. Such policies include the partial ban on log exports as well as trade policies directed at the exportation of logs and lumber and the importation of pulp. In the 1970s, the forestry sector was notably 1 of the top 10 sectors with respect to export earnings, mainly from the exportation of raw logs. For a country concerned with addressing poverty and deforestation problems, these socio-economic contributions seemed invaluable. However, the negative effects of logging on the forest resource overshadowed the economic benefits derived from such activities. The forest resource base was greatly reduced; consequently, the government implemented a log export ban policy aimed at mitigating deforestation problems. This export ban was also directed at improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the wood processing industry. With the global adoption of SFM and the mounting pressure from lending institutions for policy reforms as instruments of growth and development, the issue is revisited to examine whether these Philippine government policies promote or discourage such multiple goals. This article discusses the repercussions of the log export ban and trade policies on the Philippine government's multiple targets for the economy and for the environment. Using an aggregation of the global trade analysis project model, a computable general equilibrium model, the impacts of these resources and trade policies are analysed.