A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology

Contract reforestation is government's new innovation to fill in the gap created by the past government reforestation programs. The scheme aimed at accelerating the restoration of ecological balance through massive reforestation of the open- denuded forest lands, while promoting rural development guided by the programs' basic policy: equitable distribution of resources through the involvement of the non-governmental organizations, communities, interest groups, lo ca 1 governments uni ts, f ami 1 ies and private organizations (corporations). The NGOs are professional mid-level development-oriented organizations,which motivates and organizes the low income communities to participate in the implementation of local development projects. This reputation was well established in the Philippines, and hence government decided to tap their social development capabilities to assist the later in contract reforestation. For this purpose, and based on the researcg parameters like awareness level, income farming system, and resource access, this study assumed that the NGO involvement in contract reforestation would create a positive impact to the people in terms of service delivery, implemetation strategies and positive changes in the life of the people in the target areas as compared with the government strategy. In Negros Oriental, the government employed two strategies in implementing contract reforestation. One is by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the non-government organizations, and the other is by the Central Visayas Regional Projects -I direct to the communities. This study analyzes the implementation strategies of the two groups to determine the extent of collective and representative participation during the project and its effects in the community. The effects has been assessed based on data collected through questionnaires, checklist and interview administration. During analysis ranking has been done to give weight to the process of each project implementor. Results of the study showed that during the actual project implementation, the CVRP approach to contract reforestation was widely accepted and derived greater community impact compared with the DENR-NGO collaboration.