Future Challenge: A Paradigm Shift in the Forestry Sector - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 444

Moreover, there are many examples of forest degradation being deflected to a tree-
based smallholder landuse pattern that avoids the more serious stages of environmen-
tal degradation. Good markets for tree products such as fruits, resins and latex have
allowed a transition of substantial areas of southeast Asian forest into 'agroforest', a
land use that combines 'planted trees' with forest flora and fauna, either retained or
naturally regenerated vegetation (De Jong et al. 2001). Tree planting in these agrofor-
ests can occur in an open field stage, often in between food crops, or in small gaps or
clearings in existing forest. The 'miang tea' agroforests of northern Thailand and
some of the fruit tree, cacao and coffee agroforests originated from such 'enrichment
planting', gradually modifying the species composition and forest structure without a
clear felling stage. The rubber, damar (resin) and other fruit tree and coffee based
agroforestry has been through such a clear-felled (usually 'slash and burn') stage, but
recovered their tree cover and most of the forest functions, allowing a greater popula-
tion density to make a living (about 50 persons km −2 for rubber agroforests, versus
about 10 persons km −2 in sustainable forms of shifting cultivation or plantation for-
estry). When the first generation of planted trees gets old, the choice may again be
either 'interplanting' or a new clear-felling + planting rotation. In Indonesia, farmers
use different words for these two ways of planting trees ( sisipan versus tanam ) (Joshi
et al. 2002). The term 'plantations' in Southeast Asia generally refers to a form of
'land clearing' (conventionally 'slash and burn', with various forms of 'slash and
mulch' or 'controlled burning as more recent alternatives) to form a break with the
preceding vegetation. Both from an economic and an environmental perspective,
however, the 'enrichment planting' approach merits further interest.

21.4.3 Forest and Tree Plantations

In this section we focus on industrial, communal or individual forests or plantations
established by planting and/or seeding through afforestation or reforestation activities,
which are even aged stands of 1-2 species established at regular spacing (FAO 1998).
As discussed above, plantations form an important and efficient source of wood and
non-wood products and by reducing production pressure may have a tempering effect
on the rate of natural forest loss. Yet, large scale forest plantations are a main cause of
natural forest conversion and lost (ARD 2004; Barr et al. 2004; Forester et al. 2004;
Sheng and Cannon 2004). Additionally, as mentioned above, forest plantations, partic-
ularly monocultures, provide limited genetic and biodiversity conservation, ecological
resilience, and carbon storage services (Michon and de Foresta 1995; Lamb 1998;
Murdiyarso et al. 2002; Roshetko et al. 2007a; van Weerd and Snelder, Chapter 16, this
volume); and as with commercial logging of natural forests, tree plantations provide
less social and livelihood services to rural communities than community managed for-
ests and agroforestry systems (Tomich et al. 1998). Moreover, forest plantations have
not been equally successful across the region; efforts to promote plantations regularly
fail to achieve the expected targets and results (Moestrup 1999; Lasco et al. 2001;
Lasco, Chapter 9, this volume; Barney, Chapter 13, this volume). This includes areas