Indigenous livelihood systems in industrial tree-plantation areas in West Kalimantan, Indonesia: Economics and plant-species richness

Abstract

An ‘integrated tree plantation’ approach combining indigenous livelihoods and industrial wood production is being implemented in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. In this study the economics of land-use was investigated in villages within the plantation scheme. The effect of three alternative land-use scenarios and costs and benefits of each land-use type were studied using linear programming. The scenarios were based 1) on the current land-use, 2) on the integrated tree plantation system with incentives and government regulations, and 3) on a financially optimal land-use distribution. Additionally, plant species richness in different land-use types was surveyed. The scenarios had different kinds of effects on villages varying in respect to their possibilities for land-use intensification. In villages with extensive land use, establishment of tree plantations without any land-use regulations increased the potential economic return on land, resulting in conversion of natural and man-made semi-natural forests into swidden fields. In villages with more sedentary agriculture, the plantation scheme did not create pressures towards remaining forests even in the case of financially optimal land-use distribution. Incorporation of land-use regulations prevented further deforestation but also decreased households' economic returns. The results also showed that conversion of Imperata grasslands to any other land-use increased species richness. Incentives, restrictions or regulations aiming at conserving natural and semi-natural forests are needed to ensure conservation of biodiversity and long-term improvements in local livelihoods. It can be concluded that tree plantations can be combined with other land-use practices: They can improve the economic return on land without further degradation of the environment.