Forest and Grassland Fire Occurrence

in the Panay Mountain Range 2014–2017

Imprint
This publication is by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the Forest and Climate Protection
in Panay-Phase II (ForClim II) Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
(BMU) under its International Climate Initiative. BMU supports this Initiative based on a decision of the German Parliament. For more
information, see http://www.international-climate-initiative.com.

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Programme:
Forest and Climate Protection in Panay – Phase II

Author:
Ruth Martinez

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Contents

List of figure ........................................................................................................................................................................................i

List of tables ........................................................................................................................................................................................i
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................................................... ii
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Project background ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3
3. Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
4. Results ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
4.1 2014 survey ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8
4.2 2017 survey .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10
4.3 Comparison of fire occurrence 2014 and 2017 ............................................................................................................. 11
5. Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 12
References........................................................................................................................................................................................ 14
List of figure
Figure 1. Occurrence and extent of forest and grassland fires in selected LGUs ................................................................ 8

List of tables
Table 1. Data collected of areas burned at barangay level during the baseline survey in 2015 .......................................... 9
Table 2. Areas burned at barangay level during the year 2017 ............................................................................................... 11
Table 3. Comparison of areas burned in 2014 to 2017 ........................................................................................................... 11

i
Acronyms
ANR Assisted Natural Regeneration
BMB Biodiversity Management Bureau
BMU German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
CADT Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title
CBFM Community Based Forest Management
CENRO Community Environment and Natural Resources Office/r
DENR Department of Environment and Natural Resources
DILG Department of Interior and Local Government
FAO Food and Agricultural Organization
ForClim Forest and Climate Protection Project in Panay
FLUP Forest Land Use Plan
FMB Forest Management Bureau
GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH
IEC Information and Education Campaign
LGU Local Government Unit
MENRO Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office
NGP National Greening Programme
PENRO Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office/r
PMR Panay Mountain Range
SMART Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tools
USAID United State Agency for International Development

ii
 1
Introduction
Naturally-induced forest fires are an integral part of forest ecosystems as they may contribute to maintain their
health and vitality through the spreading of seeds or soil regeneration. Fires can be triggered and spread by natural
factors such as dry weather conditions, high temperature and strong wind velocity, but they can also be human-
induced. Yet, forest fires – especially human-induced ones – remain one of the biggest threats for forests, as they
destroy natural resources with socio-economic impact on biodiversity, timber, forest products and the ecosystem
services provided by the forests. Therefore, forest fire management is an important tool for planning, preventing
and fighting fires to protect people, property and forest resources (Government of Canada 2016, Rebugio et al.
2007, FAO 2001, FAO 2015, Heikkilä et al. 2010, Nasi et al. 2002).
In Panay (Figure 1), forest and grassland fires have been a problem for forest protection because uncontrolled fires
destroy forest ecosystems, plantations, cultivated land and other natural resources on which local communities rely
for their livelihoods. The two main reasons for human-induced fires on Panay are that farmers tend to burn cattle
grazing areas to favour the growth of young grass and that farmers burn forest patches to open cultivation areas or
for shifting cultivation – locally called Kaigin (Carandang et al. 2013).
Fire prevention and management is the shared responsibility of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) and Local Government Units (LGUs) which shall coordinate closely in forest protection and
enforcement of forest laws and regulations. For this purpose, joint DENR-LGU forest protection teams have been
created at the regional, provincial, municipal and barangay levels (DENR-DILG 1998).

2
 2
Project
background
The study described in this report was conducted in the framework of the Forest and Climate Protection Project in
Panay Phase II (ForClim II). The project was financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment,
Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and jointly
implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and DENR. The ForClim II
project aimed to protect and rehabilitate the forest in the Panay Mountain Range (PMR), including the reduction of
forest and grassland fires. In order to achieve this goal, ForClim II promoted sustainable and decentralised
management and protection of forest resources through preparation of Forest Land Use Plans (FLUPs) in 20
municipalities across the PMR, strengthening and capacity developing for municipal environment and natural
resource offices (MENRO) including forest guards (bantay gubat), and rehabilitation of degraded forests.
The study evaluated the contribution of ForClim to the reduction of forest fires around the PMR by comparing a
2014 baseline with a survey in 2017. No official forest fire data were available for 2014 from DENR or the
municipalities. The project, therefore, carried out a survey on forest fire observations and recordings in the ForClim
partner municipalities for the year 2014. The same survey was carried out again in 2017 to evaluate the project
impact on forest fire occurrence compared to 2014.
The baseline survey was also used to identify priority areas for forest fire prevention and protection measures. The
enhancement of forest protection measures included forest fire information campaigns and the recruitment of local
volunteers for forest patrolling and protection activities.

4
 3
Methodology
In order to measure ForClim output indicator 1.4, a forest fire baseline for the year 2010 is required. The indicator
states: the annual area of forest and bushland fires has decreased by at least 75% from 2010 to 2017. However, for
2010 no baseline data on forest fires are available. 1 The project therefore carried out a survey of forest and
brushland fire occurrence for the year 2014 which is the year when ForClim II started. The results of the baseline
study for 2014 was then compared with fire data from 2017, collected in the same LGUs using the same
methodology.
Initial interviews with Community Environment and Natural Resources Officers (CENROs) in the PMR were used
to determine the area for more in-depth interviews. In 2014, forest fires were only reported from nine municipalities
in the provinces of Antique and Iloilo. Therefore, the actual survey focussed on these two provinces and covered
nine municipalities (Fig. 1).
The baseline study on forest and grassland fires was carried out from January to February 2015. The survey team
reviewed all available documents on forest fire occurrence, such as reports from DENR and LGUs, police blotter
certification reports and incident reports written by local People’s Organisations or the barangay captain. In
addition, interviews were conducted with MENROs, municipal staff, barangay officials, bantay gubat, DENR staff
(CENROs and PENROs - Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers) and police officers to get
information from key stakeholders about local fire occurrence. Questions targeted the estimated number of hectares
burned and the main cause of the fire.
The same sites and method were used to carry out the forest fire occurrence survey at the end of the project from
September to November 2017.
The review of existing reports and the interviews with stakeholders were carried out with great care and diligence,
but the ha figures from the interviews are often only based on a “best guess”.

1 The Enforcement Division of the DENR Regional Office in Region VI has started to compile date on forest fire occurrence in
2015. These data were not used in this report because they are less comprehensive than the result of the review of existing
reports and the interviews.

6
 4
Results
4.1 2014 survey
Fire occurrence in the Panay Mountain Range and area burned are shown in the map below (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Occurrence and extent of forest and grassland fires in selected LGUs

8
The data collected on fire occurrence in different municipalities of the provinces of Antique and Iloilo are presented
in more details in Table 1 while an overview of fire events by province is provided below:
Province of Antique
• In 2014, the municipality of Patnongon has the highest number of barangays affected by fire with a total area of
209.39 ha burned. CENRO Belison documented this but no cause of the fires was identified. Most of the
burned areas are reforestation sites of the DENR-led National Greening Programme (NGP).
• In the municipality of Bugasong, a forest fire occurred in only one barangay, but the area burned was covering
170 ha.
• Municipality of Valderrama: the upland barangays are covered with Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles
(CADT), recognising the rights of indigenous people over their territories. An area of 106 ha was deliberately
burned by the indigenous people. They use the grassland area for cattle raising purposes and according to the
indigenous leader, the annual burning is a customary right.
• Municipality of Sibalom: forest fires occurred only in one barangay, but twice in the same year and in the same
area. No cause was given for these incidents.
Province of Iloilo
• From February to April 2014, a total of 130 ha of forest land was burned within the study sites, mainly
reforestation sites.
• Municipality of Miag-ao: 25 ha fire documented through interviews with local people.
• Municipality of Tubungan: a total of 105 ha, documentation of four cases in the barangays of Navillan,
Morcillas, Daraga and Igpaho. The barangays Daraga and Igpaho comprise the largest areas burned in the
summer, when dry grass and wind spread fires easily.

Table 1. Data collected of areas burned at barangay level during the baseline survey in 2015
Municipality Barangay Date of Area burned Comments
(Province) occurrence (ha)
2014
Miag-ao Sitio Tigbayog, 9-Apr 25 The burned area is part of the 180 ha upland
(Iloilo) Ongyod reforestation project of the province of Iloilo
established in 2013; based on the interview the fire
started from the other side of the Sitio Tigbayog
Mountain Ranges from the Municipality of Sibalom,
Antique
Igpaho April 50 Forest grass fire. The offender was not identified

Sitio Pinikahan, March 30 Grasses burned on the Gmelina plantation; the

Daraga plantation survived; unsuccessful intervention of the
forest fire brigade of Barangay Igtuble and Molina

Tubungan
(Iloilo) Navillan 21-Feb 15 Forest grassfire; extinguished by barangay forest fire
brigades of Navillan and Morcillas, Tubungan; the fire
crossed the ridge from Barangay Igpigus and Igbaras,
Iloilo

Navillan and 28-Feb 10 Adjacent to the area burned on February 21, 2014
Morcillas
Sibalom Sitio Apong, No date 80 The forest fire occurred twice in 2014
(Antique) Cabladan
Samalague 11-Mar 50 NGP site, the origin and cause of fire was not
determined nor the suspect identified
No date 15 No data
Patnongon Tigbalogo
1 ForClim reforestation site; no records
(Antique)
Gella No date 13 ForClim reforestation site, the fire started in the
neighbouring barangay of Villa Flores in a grazing
site; the burned area was immediately replanted

9
Municipality Barangay Date of Area burned Comments
(Province) occurrence (ha)
2014
Vista Alegre No date 6 Burned every year
Cuyapiao No date 5 Burned two times in 2014; near barangay boundary of
Alvaniez and Cuyapiao
23-Feb 33.16
Villa Sal 23-Feb 15
22-Mar 3
NGP site, the origin and cause of fire was not
20-Jan 10 determined nor offender identified
Alvaniz
15-Mar 8.23
Villa Flores 11-Mar 50

No date 100 Reforestation project of DENR Community Based

Bugasong Forest Management (CBFM)
Nawili No date 50 Reforestation project from LGU initiative
(Antique)
No date 20 Convergence initiative
Busog No date 50 Controlled burning of pasture land once every 3 years
Valderrama Kulyat No date 50 Controlled burning of pasture land once every 3 years
(Antique)
Iglinab No date 6 About 5 to 7 patches of forest grassland burned
Barbaza Marigne, No date 100 Most prone to forest and grassland fire but no data
(Antique) Langkaon
Culasi Magsaysay 8-Feb 80 ForClim reforestation site, fire noticed by a farmer but
(Antique) the fire was too intense to be controlled by him;
assumed cause: somebody set fire in dried cogon
grass
Sebaste P. Javier, Alegre No date 100 No data
(Antique)

Total area burned in 2014 975.39

4.2 2017 survey

In 2017, 154 ha of forest and grassland fire were recorded. In Antique, only three municipalities (Bugasong, Sebaste
and Valderrama) out of seven surveyed reported forest fire incidents. No forest fire was recorded in the two LGUs
in the Province of Iloilo.
In the Municipality of Bugasong reportedly 146 ha of forest plantations were burned in 2017. The fire occurred
almost in the same sites, covering a big part of the National Greening Programme site of DENR and a portion of
the ANR site of ForClim. The fire started from Sitio Libudon and spread into Sitio Igtalukon and up to Nawili. The
MENRO office has a record of the incident and has also reported the fire to the DENR (CENRO Belison). The
cause of the fire is unknown.
The remaining 8 ha were reported from a shifting cultivation area in the Municipality of Sebaste, Barangay P. Javier
and Alegre, covering 6 ha and 2 ha of shifting cultivation in Valderrama, Barangay Busog. There was no recording
of controlled burning of pasture land by indigenous people for grazing their animals like in 2014, although it was
reported that this is done every 3 years.

10
Table 2. Areas burned at barangay level during the year 2017
Municipality Barangay Date of occurrence Area burned Comments
(Province) 2017 in 2017
(ha)
NGP and ANR site of
14-May 121
Bugasong ForClim I and II
Nawili
(Antique)
14-May 25 NGP site

Valderrama
Busog March 2 Kaingin
(Antique)

Sebaste
P. Javier, Alegre April 6 Kaingin
(Antique)

Total area burned in 2017 154

4.3 Comparison of fire occurrence 2014 and 2017

In 2014 a total area of 975 ha was burned, while in 2017 only 154 ha were recorded. This is a reduction of 821 ha or
84.2% from 2014 to 2017 and indicates that forest fire prevention and control measures have been effective. In
most cases the causes of fires and the offenders were not known.

Table 3. Comparison of areas burned in 2014 to 2017

Municipality Barangay Area burned (ha)
(Province) 2014 2017
Miag-ao (Iloilo) Sitio Tigbayog, Ongyod 25 0
Igpaho (bordering the LGUs of
50 0
Leon and Tubungan)
Tubungan (Iloilo) Sitio Pinihakan Daraga 30 0
Navillan 15 0
Navillan and Morcillas 10 0
Sibalom (Antique) Sitio Apong, Cabladan 80 0
Samalague 50 0
Tigbalogo 16 0
Gella 13 0
Patnongon (Antique) Vista Alegre 6 0
Cuyapiao 5 0
Villa Sal 51 0
Alvaniz 18 0
Villa Flores 50 0
Bugasong (Antique) Nawili 170 146
Busog 50 2
Valderrama Kulyat 50 0
(Antique)
Iglinab 6 0
Barbaza (Antique) Marigne, Langkaon 100 0
Culasi (Antique) Magsaysay 80 0
Sebaste (Antique) P. Javier, Alegre 100 6
Forest fire areas in 2014 and 2017 975 154

The analysis is based on records and information from interviews but informants might not always remember all
details correctly, particularly when it comes to area estimates. But even with some errors in the estimates of the size
of the burned areas, the results show a significant decrease in forest and grassland fire occurrence from 2014 to
2017. This is also supported by the fact that 6 of the 9 barangays surveyed which reported forest fires in 2014 did
not have any forest and grassland fire in 2017.

11
 5
Conclusions and
recommendations
The occurrence of forest and grassland fires in the Panay Mountain Range has decreased from 2014 to 2017. This is
a clear indication of the success of information dissemination and better forest fire prevention and control – and
this trend should be maintained. While the incentives provided by the different forest rehabilitation efforts of the
government and specifically the ForClim project have contributed to encourage the local population to protect their
forest areas against fire, people might go back to their old habits of burning once the incentives are gone. To reduce
this risk, the concerned LGUs should continue, in partnership with DENR, to involve local communities in forest
protection activities. It is also important to continue the development of knowledge and capacity of upland farmers
to use farming systems that do not require burning of grassland.
For municipalities were prevention and control of forest and grassland fires was not successful (e.g. Bugasong), the
following recommendations could be made:
1. Fire lines should be used to protect plantations and agricultural areas from fire. Fire lines are used to stop fire
from spreading by separating the plantation from grasslands or fire prone areas. They should be at least 3 to 4
meters wide. Species that are resistant to fire may also be planted along the border of plantations or agricultural
areas for protection.
2. Provide firefighting equipment for bantay gubat or barangay officials as well as compensation and incentives to
motivate them to patrol regularly and report incidents to the LGU and DENR.
3. Create buffer zones around forest areas in order to avoid, minimise and/or control harm to the forest. The
buffer zones should be free of combustible material.
4. IEC (Information and Education Campaign) activities may still be needed; in addition, farmers should be
encouraged to adapt new ways of upland farming without burning their areas such as rainforestation farming
(Göltenboth and Hutter 2015), food forest and permaculture systems.
The collection of reliable spatial data on fire occurrences and extents will enable LGUs to create a database and
monitor forest and grassland fires in their respective areas. In areas which are repeatedly burned year after year,
further studies are then needed to better understand the causes of the fire in order to address the root causes. A tool
to collect, store and analyse fire data is the Lawin 2 Forest and Biodiversity Protection System which was jointly
developed by DENR and USAID, the United State Agency for International Development. LGUs should be
encouraged and supported to use Lawin for forest fire monitoring.

2 Joint FMB-BMB Technical Bulletin No. 2016-01 (FMB, Forest Management Bureau; BMB, Biodiversity Management Bureau)
http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/images/article/LAWIN_JTB.pdf

13
References
Carandang, A.P., Bugayong, L.A., Dolom, P.C., Garcia, L.N., Villanueva, M.B. and Espiritu, N.O. (2013) Analysis of
Key Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Manila, Philippines: Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Available at http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/redd-plus-
philippines/publications-
pdf/published/Analysis%20of%20key%20drivers%20of%20deforestation%20and%20forest%20degradation
%20in%20the%20Philippines.pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].
DENR-DILG (1998) Joint Memorandum Circular No. 98-01. Manual and Procedures for DENR- DILG-LGU
Partnership on Devolved and other Forest Management Functions. Available at
http://policy.denr.gov.ph/1998/jointmemocirc.98-01.pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].
FAO (2001) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. FAO Forestry Paper No. 140. Rome. Available at
www.ccmss.org.mx/descargas/Global_forest_resources_assesment_2000.pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].
FAO (2015) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015. UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Available at
www.fao.org/3/a-i4808e.pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].
Göltenboth, F. and Hutter, C.-P. (2015) Rainforestation Farming A Farmer´s Guide to Sustainable Organic Farming
and Agro-Forest Biodiversity Management. Available at
http://www.rainforestation.ph/resources/pdf/publications/Rainforestatition%20(ENG)%20true.pdf [last
accessed 10 July 2018].
Government of Canada (2016) Natural Resources Canada, Fire Management. Home, Forests, Forest Topics, Fires,
Insects and Disturbances, Forest Fires, Fire Management. Available at http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/fire-
insects-disturbances/fire/13157 [last accessed 10 July 2018].
Heikkilä, T.V., Grönqvist, R. and Jurvélius, M. (2010) Wildland Fire Management Handbook for Trainers. FAO
Rome. Available at www.fao.org/3/a-i1363e.pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].
Nasi, R., Meijaard, E., Applegate, G. and Moore, P. (2002) Forest Fire and Biological Diversity. Unasylva 53 (209):
36-40. Available at www.fao.org/tempref/docrep/fao/004/y3582e/y3582e05.pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].
Rebugio, L.L., Pulhin, J.M., Carandang, A.P., Peralta, E.O., Camacho, L.D. and Bantayan, N.C. (2007) Forest
Restoration and Rehabilitation in the Philippines. In: Lee, D.K. (Ed.) Keep Asia Green Volume I. Southeast
Asia. IUFRO World Series Volume 20-1, Vienna: 125-169. Available at
https://www.iufro.org/download/file/20356/3753/ws20-i_pdf [last accessed 10 July 2018].

14
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Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

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