Rainforestation farming to rehabilitate marginal uplands: history of its development

Abstract

Rainforestation Farming is a concept of rehabilitating degraded lands or restoring forests using native tree species. It was developed by Josef Margraf and Paciencia P. Milan of the Applied Tropical Ecology Project (Philippine-German Environmental Research Program), carried out by the Visayas State College of Agriculture (VISCA) and funded by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) from 1989 to 1999. In 2004, Rainforestation Farming was adopted as a national strategy by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). After about 27 years, the concept has received wide acceptance by government and non-government organizations as well as the scientific community. The Institute of Tropical Ecology and Environmental Management (ITEEM), established in 1999, has been tasked to spearhead the promotion and dissemination of the concept to different parts of the country.