Abstract
Plantation forests are perceived to be the supplementary source of wood material for the large wood products industry in Malaysia, amidst the steadily reducing supply from her natural forests. Despite the government’s initiated plantation forests scheme, the participation of smallholder farmers has been limited. Smallholder farmers constitute the largest proportion of private farmers involved in all sectors of agricultural and plantation tree crop cultivation, including commodities such as rubber and palm oil. Therefore, this study examines the lack of interest among smallholder farmers to participate in establishing forest plantations, although they have a strong presence in the palm oil and rubber sectors. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted among 12,895 smallholder farmers currently involved in palm oil, rubber and other tree-crop cultivation. The study found that this group has little knowledge and awareness of the forest plantation scheme available, and there is a prevailing perception that the establishment of forest plantations is not environment-friendly and leads to biodiversity loss. The poor economic return, small land holding, and poorly structured market and supply chain are perceived as the significant constraints faced that limit the interest among the target groups to participate in this sector. Any effort to reverse this trend and garner higher interest from the target group will necessarily require a new policy framework that boosts the economic outlook of forest plantations among smallholder farmers.
Highlights
Large scale forest plantations in the tropics only started in the 1960s, when deforestation to facilitate agriculture activities, urbanization and other land use purposes had taken place unabetted throughout the region [1]
This study shows that awareness and knowledge of forest plantations among smallholder farmers is low in the country due to poor extension activities to promote such activities
This study confirms that the participation of smallholder farmers in forest plantations is strongly influenced by economic factors
Summary
Large scale forest plantations in the tropics only started in the 1960s, when deforestation to facilitate agriculture activities, urbanization and other land use purposes had taken place unabetted throughout the region [1]. According to the Global Forest Assessment [6], the global forest plantation area has reached 294 million ha, with an average annual increment of 1.85%, since 1990. The higher average annual increment was recorded in North and Central America (2.51%), South America (2.38%) and Asia (2.27%) [6]. Despite such impressive establishment rates, it is estimated that only half of the plantations in Asia, Africa, and Central America are used for industrial wood production, while the remaining serve other purposes, such as fuelwood production and protection from desertification [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
