Samar Island ranks second among all islands of the Philippines for having the largest remaining forest cover, which is highly dominated by the lowland forest.  Palawan Island has the largest remaining forest in the country with about 55% forest cover out of its total land area.  Majority of the islands of the Philippines have reduced their forest cover to less than a quarter of their total landmass especially in the Visayas Region.  Most of the lowland forest of the country was already subjected to extensive commercial logging and other resource exploitations.  Based on the recent statistics released by the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the DENR, the Philippines has only about 7,168,400 hectares remaining forest out of over 30 million hectares total land area.  Of these, 2,560,872 hectares are classified as closed canopy forest; 4,030,588 open canopy forest; 247,362 hectares mangrove forest and 329,578 hectares plantation forest.

With its known ecological values, SINP plays a crucial role for the sustainable development of Samar Island.  It is relevant to municipal, provincial, regional and even national development because of economic, social and ecological benefits derived from SINP.

I. HIGH LEVEL CONSERVATION AWARENESS

The result of the survey conducted by the Samar Island Biodiversity (SAMBIO) Study in 2000 and the perception survey of SIBP revealed that the level of environmental consciousness among residents of the three provinces of Samar Island is relatively high.  There is also a general concern from Samarnons on the loss of natural resources and they are willing to pay for the preservation of the remaining forest of the island, which is now covered by SINP.  This level of awareness on forest conservation can be attributed to tremendous and tragic effects brought about by the heavy flooding that occurred in Samar Island in 1989. Residents of the island strongly believed that the incident was the result of forest denudation.

The conservation efforts of different local institutions have already paved several milestones on forest protection.  The declaration of the logging moratorium in 1989 and the establishment of SIFR in 1996 were among of the concrete results of the strong advocacy by local groups on forest conservation.  The establishment of SINP also gained massive support from various sectors in Samar in spite opposition on it by the mining industry.

The study on land use options conducted by SAMBIO in 2000 revealed that environmental protection is the most important criterion in selecting the land use option for Samar Island.  It means the protection of the island’s remaining forest is of great importance to Samar residents.  The second preferred land use option was agro-forestry followed by non-wood use, ecotourism, wood use and settlement. Water has been identified as the main resource of the forest that would directly contribute to the development of the three provinces of Samar Island.

II. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND PRIORITIES

The three provincial governments of Samar Island started to include resource management and environmental protection as priority areas of governance as presented in their respective development plans. There is a growing recognition in these provincial development plans that sustainable resource management would also reduce poverty in the island. The current development plan of the (Western) Samar province has included biodiversity conservation as an objective on its economic development plan.

In Eastern and Northern Samar, issues on environment and resource management are clearly presented on their development plans with corresponding projects and activities recommended to address the identified issues.  Several Local Government Units (LGUs) are already engaged in some environment and natural resources programs and projects such as the reforestation and integrated social forestry.

While the establishment of SINP gained broader acceptance and support from local stakeholders, its conservation is not yet fully integrated to some of the municipal LGUs short and long-term development plans and agenda, which are characterized by the (a) lack of conservation specific appraisal within environmental impact assessments; (b) absence of zoning requirements to satisfy conservation needs; (c) weak understanding among policy makers of the external cost of development; and (d) lack of information of the comparative values of the forest conservation relative to other resource uses.

The Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991 offers promising options for environment and natural resources management because it bestows authority to local governments in sharing the responsibility with the national government on the maintenance of ecological balance on their respective localities.  The Code devolves certain authority and responsibility of the DENR to LGUs including some forest management functions and allows the broader participation of local governments in the management of natural resources.

III. CONFLICTING DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

The remaining forest of the island is still under pressure from various resource uses ranging from community use for subsistence to large scale and commercial resource exploitations, although there is a growing appreciation from Samar residents to protect it. The priority thrusts of most LGUs are the improvement of the local economy and the delivery of basic social services, which may directly affect SINP because there is a tendency that its resources shall be used to boost the economy of the island.

The priority thrust of the national government to revitalize mining, as a major industry for economic development is the other important consideration for the management of the PA and its buffer zone.  While local stakeholders expressed vehement objection to mining by manifesting support for the declaration of SINP, mineral exploitation remains a key issue not only in the PA but also in the entire Samar Island because it is being pushed by the national government.  It should be noted, however, that Samar residents identified mining as the least preferred land use option for the island based on the SAMBIO study.

In August 2005, then DENR Secretary Michael Defensor also lifted the logging moratorium of the San Jose Timber Corporation (SJTC) and extended its operations for another 16 years.  This TLA covers 95,770 hectares and located within the core zone considered as part of the strict protection zone of SINP where all resource extractive activities are prohibited.  The SAMBIO report on estimating non-use values of SIFR also claimed that there was a strong opposition on the logging industry in Samar Island because residents believe that it will destroy the forest and may result to calamities.  The decision of Defensor to lift the logging moratorium has received strong opposition from local groups especially from the Catholic Church in different dioceses of Samar Island.