Demand for forest products is foreseen to continue increasing, and substitution of non-renewables with biomass-based materials may strengthen the trend further.
The competition for land is also increasing, particularly due to the pressure for more agricultural land in the developing world. This trend leads to land fragmentation, increases the land prices and pushes tree planting to lower-yielding areas. At the same time, planted forests are expected to provide more industrial wood. This all requires careful land use planning and optimization of land uses, and limits possibilities to establish traditional large-scale industrial plantations.
The diversification emphasizes the role of smallholders in tree growing, while also providing them with an alternative, diversified livelihoods, which can provide a buffer against economic shocks and agricultural product price fluctuations.
The scale of smallholder tree planting varies from a few trees to tens or hundreds of hectares. A common feature is that majority of trees planted are exotic species such as pine, eucalyptus, acacia, or teak.
Emerging and developing economies are developing their forestry sector relying on smallholder forestry.
Successful incentive schemes have helped to create a critical mass of forests to support the establishment of forest-based industries, to catalyze socio-economic development and reduce poverty in rural areas, reduce pressure on natural forests and strengthen land tenure.
Outgrower schemes between forest industries and small scale tree planters have also been developed and tested to diversify wood sourcing for forest industries. The keys and major challenges in the outgrower schemes are building the trust between the partners and establishing feasible and mutually beneficial, fair and transparent agreements.
Smallholders prefer the common commercial, often exotic species on their plantations. Small holder teak plantation in Luang Prabang province in Laos.
Developing countries where smallholder-led tree planting has been supported and has become the mainstream activity in last decades include China, Vietnam, Philippines, South Africa, India and Indonesia (Java). In last years, smallholder tree planting has mounted up also in Eastern Africa, including Uganda with the support of SPGS incentive scheme, and Tanzania and Ethiopia. However, in the absence of technical support and incentives, smallholders are often not fully able to integrate in the (industrial) wood value chains and their wood is often ending in lower value markets.
The right kind of incentives and partnerships are needed to establish viable smallholder plantation forestry systems
The lessons learned from successful afforestation indicate that incentive schemes need to include the following elements:
: Be performance-based – focusing on high survival rates and high productivity
: Combine direct incentives with tactical assistance (indirect enabling incentives)
: Be temporary in nature – finite lifespan and phased out at a certain point of time
: Be inclusive rather than exclusive: supporting small- medium and large-scale tree growers
: Comply with the best environmental and social standards
Century Kingdom Group transformed from mineral resources company to becomes a plantation company is part of the group global initiative to plant a sustainable future, on top of striking a balance among humanity, social-responsible enterprise, and the environment. Smallholder Plantation Forestry is part of the core element in the group master plan for the year 2019-2025 and beyond.
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