Palanan, Philippines

In 1994, Isabela State University, Conservation International in Phillipines, and CTFS/STRI initiated the Palanan Forest Dynamics Plot. More recently, PLAN International has also become a major partner in the Palanan Forest Dynamics Plot program. The Palanan FDP is located in an aseasonal forest in the typhoon belt, and is being compared with the Luquillo FDP in Puerto Rico's hurricane belt. The three-fold mission of the Palanan FDP is: to examine the performance and abundance of species used for timber and non-timber forest products; to understand the dynamics of forests under a full range of natural disturbance regimes; and to develop a management plan for the sustainable use of forest products within local communities. This mission reflects the fact that illegal logging, over-exploitation of forest resources, and land-use changes have affected the Palanan ecosystem and that economic and social pressures threaten the integrity of the area's indigenous Agta community. The FDP will provide some of the necessary biological information needed to preserve and use forest resources responsibly, and it will also help promote locally-owned and operated enterprises that increase incentives for the conservation of biological diversity.