Helsinki – The Philippines could easily surpass Finland as a top agro-forestry producer if only the Philippine government would implement a family-based tree farming program, according to two Finnish experts.
Klaus Virtanen, 82, who spent three years in the Philippines, and Mike Juvelrius, 68, who studied Philippine forests for nine years, said the Philippines has an ideal soil and climate for tree farming.
The two forestry experts said the Philippines could be ranked as among the potential world superpowers in agro-forestry, along with Brazil and Indonesia, because trees grow faster.
Virtanen, who knows Mindanao forests like the palm of his hands, said that while it takes about 60 to 80 years before trees could be harvested in Finland, there are tree species in the Philippines which could be harvested after 5 to 10 years.
Julverius said that while trees in Finland grow at a rate of 8 to 10 cubic meters per hectare per year, trees could grow from 80 to 100 cubic meters per hectare per year in the Philippines.
The two experts said the success of the agro-forestry program of Finland is mainly because the forests are owned by families who are allowed to harvest the trees.
Out of Finland’s 35-million hectares of land area, 80% are forests and 60% of the forests are owned and managed by individual farmers.
Virtanen and Juvelrius commended the Bantay Kagubatan Agro-Forestry Program which I designed which is aimed at tapping farming families to manage tree farms in the critical watersheds of the country.
They expressed hope that the strong leadershipand the anti-corruption campaign of President Rody Duterte will finally pave the way for the realization of their dream of making the Philippines an agro-forestry Super Power in the world.
(Video taken by Romirose Boloron)
https://fb.watch/aL9eOVvpA0/
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