TREE farming and tree investment is an almost unpopular industry in Mindanao despite the number of lumber stores.
Around 2014, Mama Earth Foundation began in the tree industry, not merely a business venture but for the Typhoon Pablo-hit farmers in Davao de Oro to get back on their feet.
Mama Earth Foundation founder and president Ulrich Kronberg was then part of an environment-focused non-government organization that responded to relief operations after Typhoon Pablo uprooted the farmers’ livelihood.
Their initial goal was to plant mangroves on the coasts of Davao Gulf but seeing how hunger and the loss of livelihood turned people aggressive, he thought of planting trees for lumber as a viable alternative source of income.
“What we discovered is this. Let us say a farmer here owns four hectares of land. They do not have a capital to cover all the four hectares. Most of the farmers till only about 1.5 to two hectares. That is two hectares of unused land,” he said.
Ulrich launched the foundation’s tree program where they asked the farmers in Monkayo, Davao de Oro to allow them to plant Mahogany trees only on their available lands. The Mahogany trees will be tended and harvested for lumber.
“We wanted the farmers to keep their land. We don't cut anything. We let them grow. The farmer can work on his farm just like before. There will be no changes for him,” he said.
“The good thing about our Mahogany program, the farmers get 50 percent of the lumber’s income,” he added.
He explained that after the harvest of the first batch of the Mahogany trees, the partner-farmers will be given another tree seedling to grow and get 100 percent of the income from the lumber.
Kronberg has seen the sustained demand for hardwood lumber not only in the Philippines but in Asia.
He said for a 32-diameter Mahogany trunk, about P7,800 for the minimum price of P37 per half board feet - approximate usable lumber of one Mahogany tree. But since there is not enough supply of hardwood lumber, the prices tend to rise.
On Mama Earth Foundation’s brochure, Kronberg said the selling price of Mahogany per cubic meter is at 270 euros as of May 2017 or about P14,800.
“I have talked to some of the biggest Mahogany dealers in Mindanao and he said he is always short of supplies. Before about 100 to 1,000 Mahogany lumber gets to the lumberyard, it is already sold,” he said.
They have partnered with more than 100 farmers in Monkayo and Montevista in Davao de Oro and Marilog District in Davao City.
“We have now 500 hectares more in Marilog. About 60 hectares have been planted but we plant almost every day,” he said.
The Mahogany trees are now six years old. It needs six more years to get to the right height and diameter to be viable as lumber.
Aside from planting trees for business and livelihood, the foundation also plants other endemic trees such as Narra, Acacia, and Apitong as part of their reforestation efforts.
With the Mahogany business, he hopes to prevent illegal loggers from cutting these endemic trees.
“We have to cut down illegal loggers. I do not think people like to do illegal logging. They only do it only for the money. Meaning to say, we have to give them the chance to plant enough Mahogany to make lumber business,” he said.
“You can make a million things out of lumber. But for illegal logging, you get P10,000 once from cutting one Narra tree and then other people make a big business out of it. The illegal loggers will also put their lives at risk of being jailed and leaving their families behind,” Kronberg added.
He plans to expand the project in other areas in the country, especially in Mindanao. In order to do this, they urged people to invest in the trees for about 36 percent share of the income.
In its brochure, he said investors can get at least 40 euros or P2,240 for about P500 investment per tree based on June 2017 currency exchange. Investors can start for 200 trees.
“Mindanao is really a gifted part of the Philippines. You put the seeds in the soil, it will grow. We have enough rain. We have enough sunshine. It is good for tree farming and only what we need to do is to keep it in this condition,” he said.