Farmer Tree Planting Barriers to Sustainable Forest Management - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 408

Chapter 20
Farmer Tree Planting Barriers to Sustainable
Forest Management
M. Van Noordwijk 1 *, J.M. Roshetko 1,2 , Murniati 3 , M.D. Angeles 4 ,
Suyanto 1 , C. Fay 1 , and T.P. Tomich 5
Abstract Agroforestry provides productive and protective forest functions valued by
societies as sustainable forest management. Yet, trees planted in agroforestry systems
are excluded in formal definitions and statistics and overlooked in legal and institu-
tional frameworks for sustainable forest management. Likewise, smallholder farmers
frequently face barriers when planting or re-planting trees on farms. We examine six
issues that hinder a regreening revolution based on farmer tree planting, as discussed
in various other book chapters. First , issues of terminology for forests, plantations,
and reforestation are linked to land tenure and land-use restrictions. Second , access
to high-quality planting material remains a challenge, especially at the farmer level.
Third , management skill and information often constrain production for lucrative
markets. Fourth , overregulation often restricts market access for farmer grown tree
products, partly due to rules intended to curb illegal logging from natural forests or
government plantations. Fifth , there is a lack of reward mechanisms for environmental
services provided by agroforestry. Sixth , there is a lack of supportive legal and institutional
frameworks for smallholder tree growing and agroforestry in general. Current relationships
between agroforestry and plantation forestry are perceived as complementary, neutral
or competitive, depending on the ability of (inter)national policy frameworks to provide
a level playing field for the provision to society at large of productive and protective
forest functions. In conditions where plantations operate with substantial government
subsidies, in contrast to non-existent or minimal subsidies for agroforestry, farmers'
potential to produce wood and provide other forest benefits and ecological services is
placed at a disadvantage, to the detriment of society at large.