Question & AnswerQ&A (DENR ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 24, S. 1996)
The main policy of the DENR is to ensure equitable access and sharing of rights to natural resources development and utilization by providing opportunities for people to participate actively in forest plantation development through the issuance of Socialized Industrial Forest Management Agreements (SIFMAs).
SIFMA stands for Socialized Industrial Forest Management Agreement. It is an agreement between a natural or juridical person and the DENR granting the right to develop, utilize, and manage a small tract of forest land consistent with sustainable development principles.
Areas available for SIFMA include grasslands, brushlands, and open and denuded forest lands under DENR jurisdiction, excluding areas under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS), pending or approved Certificates of Ancestral Domain or Land Claims unless prior written agreement is obtained, and areas with existing legal claims or licenses unless resolved.
For individuals or single family units, the area may range from 1 to 10 hectares. For cooperatives or associations, the area may cover over 10 hectares up to 500 hectares.
Qualified applicants include Filipino citizens of legal age who are preferably residents of the municipality where the site is located for individuals/single families, and cooperatives or associations registered with the Cooperative Development Authority or Securities and Exchange Commission with proof of financial and technical capacity, with members who are Filipino citizens and residents of the province where the SIFMA site is located.
Grounds for cancellation include failure to develop the area within three years, being a dummy holder, unauthorized transfer of rights, illegal conversion of land use, allowing unauthorized residential entry, cutting natural trees, refusal of government inspection, obtaining the SIFMA by fraud, labor law violations, non-compliance with terms, abandonment, non-payment of fees, voluntary surrender, and public interest.
Incentives include ownership of planted trees and crops, right to harvest, sell and utilize these products, exemption from forest charges on plantation products, priority in future tenurial arrangements for actual occupants, ability to use SIFMA and improvements as collateral with approval, compensation if agreement cancelled without cause, and technical assistance for group organization.
The SIFMA is issued for a duration of 25 years and is renewable for another 25 years.
Minimum terms include provisions for management and financial services, consultation/arbitration, prohibition on unauthorized land conversion, environmental protection measures, rehabilitation of lands, effective monitoring, gender equity, protection of workers' rights, community development commitments, planting tree species in at least 90% of plantable area, preservation of steep slopes and riparian zones, and restrictions on untested exotic species.
The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) is responsible for implementing the program in its jurisdiction, including site identification, processing applications, and monitoring and evaluation. The PENRO and RED have supervisory and approval functions depending on the area size.