Do oil palm impacts on species richness negatively affect the local livelihoods?

Abstract

Land use conversion is the leading cause of biodiversity changes, and biodiversity is often used as an indicator of sustainability. A great number of scholars and public, in general, have often associated biodiversity loss, such as species richness, with unsustainable oil palm plantations. Similarly, oil palm expansions were also associated with negative impacts on the local people’s livelihoods. Seldom in discussions on oil palms sustainability, do they take into consideration the perceived biodiversity changes from social points of view. This study seeks to determine the local people’s perceptions of the changes in species richness due to land conversion into oil palm plantations and how they have affected the local livelihoods. Household surveys were conducted using direct observation, literature study, and in-depth structured interview to 373 respondents from various ethnicities including indigenous people in 15 villages around 6 oil palm estates in North Sumatera, Riau, and West Kalimantan, whom were selected based on convenience sampling. Respondents were stratified into indigenous people, migrants, and estate’s workers. A five-point Likert Scale was employed to identify people’s perceptions while recollection technique was used to identify biodiversity loss. Results of the study revealed that there were varied perceptions related to the impacts of oil palms expansions on species richness from social perspectives. The species had different ecological and social values, depended on the benefits that people attach to the species. Although, as many as 16 wildlife and 15 plant species loss were recalled following the plantations’ development, these losses provided little contributions to the current livelihood strategies. The locals appeared to be responsive to better economic opportunities and willingness to shift the livelihood system for improved incomes. These results suggested that species richness might not always be the best indicator of plantation sustainability, as sustainability other than approached from ecology, must also have social and economic dimensions.