Some Research Experiences in Socio-economics of Non-industrial Forestry in the Philippines

Abstract

This paper examines the findings of a socio-economic research project carried out to examine the financial performance, adoption progress and impediments to adoption, of a range of Australian tree species in the Philippines. This ACIAR-supported project was an extension of research into transfer of Australian tree production technologies to the Philippines by Australian scientists, with a focus on trees from the genera Eucalyptus. Acacia, Grevillea and Casuarina. The socio-economic research indicated that financial performance of acacias, though perhaps not other Australian species, is comparable with that of traditional species such as gmelina and mahogany. Some uncertainty exists with regard to likely growth and financial performance of eucalypts because site index data are not available, and while early stand growth has been impressive there was a lack of data on which to model later growth. A wide variety of potential impediments to adoption of farm and community forestry, and Australian species in particular, was noted.