Cost-Benefit Analysis of National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Province of Guimaras

Abstract

A Forest is a rich source of food, clothing, shelter, and medicines. But from 1990 to 2015, 129 million hectares, the size of South Africa, of the world’s forests were lost. Reforestation programs address this problem. In the Philippines, one of the reforestation efforts conducted by the government through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the National Greening Program (NGP). This program, which started in 2011, aims to plant 1.5 billion seedlings in 1.5 million hectares in 6 years. It is therefore important to analyze whether the direct benefits from the program exceeds its cost. Note that indirect benefits were not accounted for in this study. The study area was in Guimaras Island, Western Visayas, which had the lowest percentage of forest cover in the region. The result of the study showed that the direct benefits that can be derived from NGP are fuel, fruits, construction materials, timber, and medicines. The benefits can be reaped starting on its fifth year such as fuelwood, fruits, and medicines while the timber and construction materials can be derived on its 10th year. A total of PhP 323,570 per hectare is the value of its benefits. On the other hand, the activities that incurred cost during the implementation of NGP, along with seedling production, are site validation, assessment and planning, social mobilization, and maintenance and protection. This amounted to PhP 19,390.60 per hectare. During the first four years of the implementation, the program has negative net benefits. The reason is that the start of the reaping of benefits is on its fifth year. Overall, the Net Present Value in the 10-year horizon is positive. This implies that direct benefits alone outweigh the cost of the program. Moreover, the result of the benefit-cost ratio in the implementation of the National Greening Program in the province is Guimaras is 3.1. Since the ratio is greater than 1, the program is acceptable. Therefore, reforestation such as NGP should be continued until such time that denuded areas will be reforested.