The government can implement more actions to improve the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP) in the next two years, even as the reforestation program has already provided some measure of hope for the recovery of the balding forests.
In a recent study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) submitted to select entities, including The Daily Tribune, it underscored the need to raise the program’s replanting rate performance at the national, regional and site levels; and report on the survival rates of the planted seeds.
"A contributing effort for this is to increase the availability and distribution of the appropriate seedlings to be planted,” it said.
It added that a complete report on the expenditure side of the implementation of the NGP and consequent audit at all levels is likewise necessary not only in determining the efficiency of the program but also in promoting transparency.
An earlier PIDS study conducted to do a preliminary evaluation of the NGP found that the program was viewed by participants on the ground as performing positively in some areas.
Now on its fifth year, the NGP was perceived specifically to have actually raised the incomes and livelihood opportunities of the program participants.
The six-year reforestation program was also seen to have contributed to the improved environmental conditions in the planting sites.
Despite these positive perceptions, the NGP, however, was viewed as only partially effective and efficient in its implementation.
The participants asserted that an important problem in the initial implementation was the delay in the availability of the mobilization fund and limited personnel.
The study concluded that much of the success of the NGP in particular and future reforestation programs of the country would depend on complex and sometimes intertwining factors.
"Other than the infusion of sufficient financial and manpower resources, a reforestation program would have a better chance of attaining its objectives if its implementers can sufficiently monitor and evaluate its activities and effectively implement solutions to address the problems encountered,” it said.
The country’s greening program aimed to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years until 2016.
Government data indicated that areas planted already reached close to one million hectares in 2011 to 2014.//
