Timber entrepreneurs’ attitudes and plans relevant to smallholder forestry

A survey of timber entrepreneurs in Eastern Visayas and Metro Cebu has been conducted as part of the ACIAR Tree Farm Project to investigate the use, attitudes and preferences of timber entrepreneurs for smallholder timber. It was found that gmelina and mahogany are widely used by timber enterprises in the study area. The majority of timber enterprises obtain most of their timber requirement from timber dealers while some obtain timber directly from tree farmers. Smallholder timber, e.g. gmelina and mahogany, are found to be suitable for timber businesses but current government regulation concerning harvest and transport, declining timber resources and a poor timber market are some of the problems affecting the use of smallholder timber in timber enterprises