Article 24p. 24

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

Section 18. Reservations in forest lands and off-shore

areas. The President of the Philippines may establish

within any lands of the public domain, forest reserve and

forest

reservation

for the national park system, for

preservation as critical watersheds, or for any other

purpose, and modify boundaries of existing ones. The

Department Head may reserve and establish any portion

of

the

public

forest

or

forest

reserve

as

site

or

experimental

forest

for use of the Forest Research

Institute.

When public interest so requires, any off-shore area

needed

for

the

preservation

and

protection

of

its

educational,

scientific,

historical,

ecological

and

recreational

values

including

the

marine

life found

therein, shall be established as marine parks.

CHAPTER III Utilization and Management

Section 19. Multiple use. — The numerous beneficial uses

of

the

timber,

land,

soil,

water, wildlife, grass and

recreation or aesthetic value of forest lands and grazing

lands shall be evaluated and weighted before allowing

their utilization, exploitation, occupation or possession

thereof, or the conduct of any activity therein.

Only

the

utilization,

exploitation,

occupation

or

possession of any forest lands and grazing lands, or any

activity therein, involving one or more of its resources,

which

will

produce

the

optimum

benefits

to

the

development and progress of the country and the public

welfare, without impairment or with the least injury to its

resources, shall be allowed.

All forest reservations may be open to development or

uses not inconsistent with the principal objectives of the

reservation: Provided, That critical watersheds, national

parks and established experimental forests shall not be

subject to commercial logging or grazing operations,

and

game

refuges,

bird

sanctuaries,

marine

and

seashore parks shall not be subject to hunting or fishing

and other activities of commercial nature. (Amending

P.D. No. 705 (Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines),

Presidential Decree No. 1559, [June 11, 1978])

Section 20. License agreement, license, lease or permit .

— No person may utilize, exploit, occupy, possess or

conduct any activity within any forest and grazing land,

or establish, install, add and operate any wood or forest

products

processing

plant,

unless

he

had

been

authorized to do under a license agreement, license,

lease

or

permit:

Provided,

That

when

the national

interest so requires, the President may amend, modify,

replace, or rescind any contract, concession, permit,

license, or any other form of privilege granted herein:

Provided, further, That upon the recommendation of the

appropriate government agency, the President may,

pending the conduct of appropriate hearing, order the

summary suspension of any such contract, concession,

license, permit, lease or privilege granted under this

decree for violation of any of the condition therein such

as those pertaining but not limited to reforestation,

pollution, environmental protection, export limitation or

such condition as are prescribed by the Minister of

Natural Resources in daily issued regulations. (Amending

P.D. No. 705 (Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines),

Presidential Decree No. 1559, [June 11, 1978])

Section 21. Sustained yield. All measures shall be taken to

achieve an approximate balance between growth and

harvest or use of forest products in forest lands.

A. TIMBER

Section 22. Silvicultural and harvesting system. — In any

logging operation in production forests within forest

lands, the proper silvicultural and harvesting system that

will promote optimum sustained yield shall be practiced,

to wit:

a)

For

dipterocarp

forest,

selective

logging

with

enrichment or supplemental planting when necessary.

b) For pine or mangrove forest, the seed tree system

with planting when necessary.

Provided,

That

subject

to

the

approval

of

the

Department

Head,

upon

recommendation

of

the

Director, any silvicultural and harvesting system that

may be found suitable as a result of research may be

adopted: Provided, further, That no authorized person

shall cut, harvest or gather any timber, pulpwood, or

other products of logging unless he plants three times of

the same variety for every tree cut or destroyed by such

logging or removal of logs. Any violation of this provision

shall be sufficient ground for the immediate cancellation

of the license, agreement, lease or permit. ( Amending

P.D. No. 705 (Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines),

Presidential Decree No. 1559, [June 11, 1978])

Section 23. Timber inventory. The Bureau shall conduct a

program of progressive inventories of the harvestable

timber and young trees in all forest lands, whether

covered by any license agreement, license, lease or

permit, or not, until a one hundred per cent (100%)

timber inventory thereon has been achieved.

Section 24. Required inventory prior to timber utilization

in forest lands. No harvest of timber in any forest land

shall be allowed unless it has been the subject of at least

a five per cent (5%) timber inventory, or any statistically

sound timber estimate, made not earlier than five (5)

years prior to the issuance of a license agreement or

license allowing such utilization.

Section

25.

Cutting

cycle.

The

Bureau

shall

apply

scientific cutting cycle and rotation in all forest lands,

giving particular consideration to the age, volume and

kind

of

healthy

residual

trees

which

may

be

left

undisturbed and undamaged for future harvest and

forest cover indipterocarp area, and seed trees and

reproduction in pine area.

Section 26. Annual allowable cut. — The annual allowable

cut or harvest of any particular forest land under a

license agreement, license, lease or permit shall be

determined on the basis of the size of the area, the

volume

and

kind

of

harvestable

timber

or

forest

products

and

healthy

residuals,

seed

trees

and

reproduction found therein, and the established cutting

cycle and rotation thereof.

No person shall cut, harvest and gather any particular

timber, pulpwood, firewood and other forest products

unless he has been authorized under Section 20 hereof

to do so and the particular annual allowable cut thereof

has been granted.

In the public interest and in accordance with Section 21

hereof, the Department Head shall review all existing

annual allowable cut and thereupon shall prescribe the

level

of

annual

allowable

cut

for

the

common

dipterocarp

timber,

softwood and hardwood timber

cutting of which is not prohibited, pulpwood, firewood

and other forest products using as bases the factors as

well

as

the

updated

aerial

photographs

and

field

inventories of such forest land: Provided, That pending

the

completion

of

such

review

and

appropriate

amendment of the annual allowable cut in existing

license agreement, license, lease or permit, existing

annual allowable cut that not sufficiently supports wood

or forest products processing plant or that will support

duly approved processing expansion program or new

processing projects may be allowed to continue without

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