Complex agroforestry system in Wan Abdul Rachman Grand Forest Park: composition and characteristics of food-producing plants

Abstract

Community access to the land of Wan Abdul Rachman Grand Forest Park has started since a long time ago. Since 1998, the community has been permitted to use the land by emphasizing the sustainability aspect. Complex agroforestry systems have been established by combining several tree crops; most of them are food-producing plants. This research was aimed to study the composition and characteristics of the food-producing plant species, canopy strata, and its regeneration rate in the context of an agroforestry system. The research was conducted at two villages; those were Bogorejo and Cilimus, located in Pesawaran District, Lampung Province, from March to November 2018. Data collection was done through field observation and structured interviews with 59 farmers as respondents who managed the grand forest parkland. Data analysis was conducted using quantitative descriptive analysis method. The results showed that the complex agroforestry practices characterized by three canopy layers and one understorey. The mature food-producing plant species proportion was 86.85% of the total food-producing plants with plants density 735.97 individuals/ha. The density of tree crops population 847.42 individuals/ha with the highest density was found for coffee, cacao and candlenut. The existence of immature food-producing plants species was only 13.15%, indicating that the regeneration process had been initiated and conservation effort of the grand forest park still on-going.