smallholder engagement with short-rotation industrial plantation forestry

Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham 1

Smallholder engagement with short-rotation industrial plantation forestry Daniel Mendham

Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham 2

• Indonesia and other countries in SE Asia have ambitious plans to increase area and yield of forest plantations • For regional development and wealth creation

• To support the development of sustainable supply of feedstock for downstream value adding, including pulp and paper, and higher value options

• Profitable yields are essential to attract growers and keep them interested in growing pulpwood plantations • Lots of competing agribusiness options for

farmers

• Farmers have a track record of not achieving optimal yields

Background

Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham 3

• Pathogens are becoming more prevalent in acacias – root rot and ceratocystis

• Most likely strategy will be a require change of species in some areas

• Smallholders have a track record of lower productivity (=productivity) • Less intensive management or lack of

information?

• Alternative land uses have significantly higher profitability in many instances • Need for a better value proposition for

farmers

Key threats to profitability of short rotation plantings

Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham

ACIAR supports several research projects in SE Asia that aim to benefit smallholder farmers Including:

• FST 2009/051: Increasing productivity and profitability of Indonesian smallholder plantations

• FST 2006/087: Optimising silvicultural management and productivity of high-quality acacia plantations, especially for sawlogs (Vietnam)

• Sustainable Resources Assessment

• + many others

A strong history of projects with a high benefit:cost ratio

Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham 5


Site selection • Site selection critical for productivity

• Makruf Nurudin (PhD) studied the relationships between mineral soil characteristics and productivity of A. mangium in South Sumatra

• Productivity related to soil water holding capacity and drainage

High

productivity

Medium

productivity

Low

productivity

Rooting depth Deep Shallow, some

haematite

Shallow

Drainage Good Poor Poor

Colour Red Yellow-red Brown-yellow

Consistency firm Very firm Very firm

Structure Medium,

subangular

blocky

Strong

subangular

blocky

Strong

subangular

blocky


Sawlog management, Vietnam

ACIAR project FST/2006/087: Explores

optimal stocking density and soil nutrition

for Acacia hybrids

• Higher value plantations can be grown by

including sawlogs as part of the product

mix

• But need to manage risks: Disease, wind

susceptibility, longer rotations

• Review of scientific information from published studies and long-term experiments

• Independent analysis of company plantation inventory data to examine trends in space and time over successive rotations

Harwood and Nambiar: Review of the biophysical sustainability of short-rotation acacia and eucalypt plantations in SE Asia

10

0

13

25

38

50

1988 1992 1996 2000 2004

MA

I (m

3 h

a-1

y-1

)

Year of planting

First rotation

Second rotation

Mean productivity (Mean Annual Increment, MAI) of Acacia mangium for each planting year over first and second rotations. Total of 454 inventory plots from 3 sub-regions in Sumatra

• No evidence of systemic sustainability issues

• Growers have demonstrated an adaptive management approach to overcome major threats

• Examples of poor practice still evident in some areas: soil management, site preparation, weed control

Biophysical sustainability of short-rotation acacia and eucalypt plantations in SE Asia: Conclusions

11

Indonesia: a regional leader in

sustainable practices

Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham

Smallholder farmers: Target beneficiaries of ACIAR projects

• Forestry is a valuable part of the enterprise for many farmers

• Most forestry companies in Indonesia have an outgrower scheme

• Can be a very good mechanism to improve livelihoods in very poorly serviced areas

• Allows for short adoption pathway when it works well

• There is a need for some improvements to many schemes to ensure that farmers continue to be engaged

• Significant potential to increase sustainable wood supply

• Social science is important for helping us to understand the best mechanisms to deliver research to farmers

• Social situation is different in almost every location!

Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham

Summary

• ACIAR projects provide a valuable mechanism to push the frontier of science,

• In a way that is beneficial to farmers

• Practical outcomes are important

• Smallholder farmers are the target beneficiaries

• Many ways for communities to benefit from commercial forestry

Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham

Acknowledgements

smallholder engagement with short-rotation industrial plantation forestry

Environment