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Paper short abstract:

Focusing on governmental reforestation practices, I will show how forests and forest management in the Philippines have been shaped by environmental narratives about native and exotic tree species that still pervade the forestry sector as well as the tree planting projects of today.

Paper long abstract:

Throughout the last centuries, the Philippine forests have been heavily transformed. As most of the old-growth forests of the archipelago have been cut down by Spanish, American, and Philippine authorities, the question of how to reforest the bare landscapes has become more and more relevant.

After experimenting with different native and exotic tree species while focusing on easy and fast growth, most of the Philippine reforestation projects in the 20th and 21st centuries have relied on a small diversity of exotic tree species. Interestingly, the over 3.600 native trees have not only been neglected but also described by the exact opposite attributes: slow-growing and complex. Although voices from scientists and civil society have become louder and question the governmental reforestation approaches in public, the dominance of exotic tree species is still prevalent.

Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with environmental authorities, scientists, and civil society groups, I will analyze how reforestation discourses and practices have been simplified through environmental narratives that are linked to colonial forest management and specific resource focus. Linking different current perspectives on reforestation with the forest and forestry history of the Philippines, I aim to show how environmental narratives and forest policies are mutually dependent, and, further, hinder the planting of native trees today.