Incentives for tree growing: setting the right instruments for sustained local participation

摘要

Tree growing on public lands in the Philippines has been an object of continuous study in search of the most appropriate policy instruments for sustained local participation. Past experience using direct cash incentives failed because of superficial local participation. When payments got delayed participants' project engagement tended to retrogress and become counterproductive. Tree growing may not necessarily depend anymore on huge public investment. It can be spontaneous, spread out and sustainable if prospective tree growers are given the proper kind of incentives and support system. The paper challenges the sustainability of tree growing on public lands using direct payment as incentive for participation. It proposes a new kind of institutional arrangement among tree growers, the private sector and the government aimed at evolving the right kind of incentives for a specific context that will propel spontaneous tree growing at the farm level. Institutional incentives such as tenure, enabling policies (i.e. tax rebates, exemptions, subsidies), physical infrastructures (i.e. farm to market roads, transport, etc.), wood market, credit assistance and other support systems are among the essential instruments that can promote spontaneous and massive tree growing on both private and public lands. Some case studies in the field validated these claims. The paper concludes that selective application of specific incentives according to participants' needs and future project options is important in designing tree growing programme in order to ensure sustainable and massive local participation in tree growing on public lands.