Rules and Regulations Governing Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement (SFLMA)

DENR Administrative Order No. 2025-22

Subject: Rules and Regulations Governing Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement (SFLMA)

Signed: June 2, 2025 . Pages: 45 . Signed by: Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, Secretary

Publication: Manila Standard, June 12, 2025. Filed with ONAR and UP Law Center: June 13, 2025. Effectivity: fifteen (15) days after publication and filing (June 28, 2025, as stated in DAO 2026-07).

Amendment status: Amended by DAO 2026-07 (CBFMA excluded and DAO 2004-29 reinstated; all tenure applications filed with the Forest Management Bureau; approval delegated to the Supervising Undersecretary of the FMB) and by DAO 2026-38 (Sections 4, 5.6, 11 and 15 amended: expanded special uses, revised documentary and post-condition requirements, revised user's fees, 20-working-day processing). Provisions below marked [amended] should be read together with those orders.

Legal Basis

Article XII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution; Section 19 of PD 705 as amended (Revised Forestry Code); EO 192; EO 263 (Community-Based Forest Management as the national strategy); EO 318 (Promoting Sustainable Forest Management); and EO 278 s. 1987.

SECTION 1. Basic Policy

Protect the right to a balanced and healthful environment; promote economic development and employment through sound resource development; improve the conditions of local and cultural communities through equitable access to forest land resources; protect the population from natural hazards and ensure food, energy and water security; and promote climate change mitigation and adaptation through forest ecosystems.

SECTION 2. Objective

Harmonize guidelines and requirements to streamline the issuance of forest tenure instruments; encourage investments that diversify sustainable forest use, increase productivity, enhance biodiversity and climate resilience; provide incentives for maintaining forest cover and ecosystem services; and ensure continuous production of goods and services through a multiple use strategy.

SECTION 3. Scope and Coverage

Forest lands outside Protected Areas suitable and available for management, development, conservation, protection and utilization, including areas with existing forest tenure instruments, subject to existing guidelines. [DAO 2026-38 states the scope as forest lands outside National Parks.]

SECTION 4. Key Definitions [amended]

• SFLMA: a production sharing agreement between the DENR and a qualified applicant over forest land for sustainable forest management, for 25 years renewable for another 25 years subject to performance evaluation.
• PDMP: plan covering at least the first five years of development, detailed enough for evaluation, including on-ground surveys.
• SFLMP: 25-year development and management plan approved by the DENR, based on the PDMP.
• ECC: issued by DENR-EMB after positive review of an ECC application under the EIS System; the EIS includes an Environmental Management Plan the proponent funds and implements.
• CNO and CP: NCIP certificates on non-overlap with ancestral domains and on Free and Prior Informed Consent of ICCs/IPs.
• Protection Forest: includes NIPAS areas, proclaimed watershed reservations, old growth and mossy forests, slopes of 50% and above, areas above 1,000 m elevation, and 20-meter strips along rivers and streams at least 5 m wide.
• Potential Investment Areas (PIAs): DENR-validated forest lands available for SFLMA application.
• Special Uses: lawful uses other than timber and non-timber production, such as energy facilities, transmission line right-of-way, water impounding dams, ports, roads and government facilities.
• Other terms: Annual Accomplishment Report, Abandonment (absence or non-development for at least one year), Assignment or Transfer, CBFMA, Development Contract, FLGMA, FLAg, FLAgT, GSUP, IFMA, OLPLA, SIFMA, SpLULA, SLUP, TFLA, UADP JV/MOA, User's Fee and Vertical Integration.

SECTION 5. Management Strategies

1. Agroforestry development, with pure agricultural crops not exceeding 20% of the SFLMA area and mandatory soil and water conservation.
2. Forest plantation development, which may include processing plants for vertical integration.
3. Pasture development, including meat and dairy processing plants.
4. Ecotourism development.
5. Protection forest development, including forest carbon projects (following DENR-approved or recognized carbon standards), adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and ESG initiatives with baseline biodiversity assessments and annual reports.
6. Special uses of forest lands [list expanded by DAO 2026-38 to include causeways, fuel depots, stockyards and mining ancillary facilities except tailings ponds]. Tenure for projects of national interest or public utility, such as telecommunication and transmission towers, is governed by a separate guideline.

Existing natural forest within each parcel shall be delineated and managed for protection. Where natural forest covers less than 50% of the area, the holder shall reforest at least half of the area as protection forest, except developments requiring open areas such as grazing, timber production and renewable energy.

SECTION 6. Areas Available

All forest lands of the public domain, prioritizing degraded lands suitable for restoration or critical for biodiversity conservation, excluding NIPAS areas. New applications within PIAs are prioritized. Holders of IFMA, FLGMA, TFLA, SIFMA, FLAg, FLAgT, SpLULA, SLUP, OLPLA, CBFMA [CBFMA later excluded by DAO 2026-07], UADP JV/MOA and similar agreements may convert to SFLMA. After this Order, only SFLMAs are issued for forest land uses it covers, apart from pending renewals.

SECTION 7. Size Limits

Individuals: up to 50 ha. Government agencies, corporations, associations, cooperatives and partnerships: up to 40,000 ha. People's Organizations: up to 1,000 ha. Larger applications are evaluated by the DENR Review and Deliberations Committee.

SECTION 8. Duration

25 years, renewable for another 25 years. Converted instruments keep their original issuance and expiry dates; SLUP periods count toward the first term.

SECTIONS 9 and 10. Qualified and Disqualified Applicants

Qualified: Filipino citizens of legal age; Filipino corporations, associations, cooperatives and partnerships in good standing subject to foreign ownership limits; registered POs and NGOs with Filipino members; LGUs, national government agencies and GOCCs. Disqualified: foreign individuals and corporations; persons found guilty of environmental offenses or subject to a Writ of Kalikasan, TEPO, EPO or continuing mandamus; and those with arrears or pending cases with the DENR.

SECTION 11. Documentary Requirements [replaced by DAO 2026-38]

Original list: letter of intent and application form; application fee (PHP 10,000 plus PHP 100 per hectare above 100 ha for private applicants); GIS map; PDMP; proof of financial and technical capability; proof of PDMP submission to the LGU; CENRO land classification certification; PCSD clearance in Palawan; NCIP CNO or CP; entity documents; NWRB clearance for water projects; DOE service contract or EICC certification for energy projects; CAAP clearance; and a CNC or ECC under the EIS System within one (1) year from the award of the SFLMA. DAO 2026-38 retains the one-year ECC or CNC post-condition, counted from notarization of the approved SFLMA.

SECTION 12. Processing [amended by DAO 2026-07 and DAO 2026-38]

Originally filed at the DENR Regional Office with CENRO/PENRO ground truthing, NCIP endorsement, FMB review and approval by the Secretary. Tenure instruments existing five years or less must convert to SFLMA; those older than six years may opt to convert. Renewal applications are filed at least one year before expiry and depend on performance evaluation. Under DAO 2026-07 and DAO 2026-38, applications are now filed with the FMB, processed within 20 working days, and approved by the Supervising Undersecretary of the FMB.

SECTION 13. SFLMP

Submitted to the FMB within one year of SFLMA approval; reviewed by the Review and Deliberations Committee within one month; revisions due within two months of notice. Non-compliance results in automatic cancellation.

SECTION 14. Provisionary Permit

For energy projects, a one-time Provisionary Permit valid for two years may be issued for feasibility studies. It is excluded from the 25-year term and terminates upon SFLMA issuance.

SECTION 15. User's Fee [amended by DAO 2026-38]

Original rates: plantation and agroforestry 3% of gross revenue or PHP 1,200/ha/yr, whichever is higher; grazing PHP 300/ha; special uses and ecotourism 3% of gross revenue or PHP 85,000/ha/yr, whichever is higher; energy uses PHP 7,200/ha/yr rising 10% annually; none for protection forest CSR and mandated reforestation. Payable to the Regional Office by May 31 of the following year, with a 3% monthly surcharge for late payment.

SECTION 16. Incentives [amended by DAO 2026-38]

Ownership of plantation products with exemption from forest charges; export of processed products without volume restriction; preferential rights to adjoining areas, insurance coverage and development loans; access to government credit; exemption of established plantations from logging bans; and waiver of renewal fees subject to performance evaluation.

SECTION 17. Suspension and Cancellation

Grounds for suspension include unpaid user's fees after two notices, failure to submit or implement the SFLMP, failure to protect the area, and false reporting. Grounds for cancellation include non-compliance with a notice of violation or suspension, misrepresentation, unauthorized transfer or subleasing, unauthorized land use conversion, fraud, failure to implement the conditions of the ECC or other permits, and abandonment. Cancellation orders are immediately executory.

SECTION 18. Monitoring and Reporting

Annual reports within 30 days after each fiscal year covering environmental, economic and social impacts; annual DENR compliance monitoring against the SFLMA, SFLMP and ECC; a comprehensive mid-term evaluation; a public-facing SFLMA database; and satellite land monitoring.

SECTIONS 19 to 24

Allocation of funds; transitory provisions (pending complete applications returned to Regional Offices; performance evaluation of all tenure instruments within one year; expiring instruments continue until expiry and renew as SFLMA); periodic review; repeal of FAO 8-3 (1941), FAO 11 (1970), DAO 1999-36, DAO 1999-53, DAO 2004-28, DAO 2004-29 [reinstated for CBFM by DAO 2026-07], DAO 2004-30, DAO 2004-59, DAO 2009-16, DMO 2011-02 and DAO 2005-25; separability; and effectivity.

Source: User-uploaded official DENR PDF (DAO-2025-22, 45 pages). Annexes include the application form, PDMP guidelines, SFLMA template and provisionary permit template.