La voz de las lenguas de Europa: la traducción

Kadam planters with favorable or highly favorable attitudes towards tree planting were more active in silvicultural management, supporting earlier studies in the tropics that have found that farmers’ attitudes towards tree planting can affect their tree planting behavior (e.g. Mahaptra and Mitchell 2001). In this study almost all the mahogany and teak planters had favorable attitudes towards tree planting, thus the attitude – per se – did not influence the silvicultural management activity in these sites. However, farmers’ perceptions related to their plantation quality, the price they received for wood, and the behavior of other tree planters around them, influenced their silvicultural management; a finding supported by other studies in the tropics (e.g. Song et al. 1997, Perdana et al. 2012).

For example, the fact that approximately half of the teak planters thought that their plantations were of a high quality (whilst the field team found few high quality plantations), influenced farmers’ silvicultural management activity. In other words, because farmers’ already thought that their plantations served their objectives as ‘saving accounts’ under the current management system, they did not see the need for improved silvicultural management. The field team’s definition for stand quality classes was based on the idea that DBH and stem quality of trees should be optimized by conducting thinning and pruning; but this definition differed from farmers’ perception of stand quality. Most of the farmers even thought that they received good prices for their wood, but hadn’t realized that the prices they received could be greatly increased. It can therefore be concluded that farmers did not fully recognize the importance of proper silvicultural management to improve their plantation productivity and quality, and potentially, the price they received for their wood.

Thinning is a crucial silvicultural practice that is used in order to maximize the growth of individual trees in the plantation. The inadequate thinning of teak reported in this study was reflected in the high mean density of 1,950 trees ha-1 _{in plots between the ages of four and 12}

years. As a comparison, in the intensively managed plantations reported by Suharlan et al. (1975) the density in five to 15 year old plantations was 1,660 trees ha-1_{. The lack of thinning probably}

also contributed to the slow growth rates recorded in plantations older than five to seven years, however it could also be that the older plantations were grown in low quality sites. Thinning

is especially important during the early phase of growth when teak grows fast (Kanninen et al. 2004, Soerianegara and Lemmens 1993). For example, in teak plantations in Costa Rica, Kanninen et al. (2004) observed that in terms of the remaining stand volume, tree size and rate of recovery, heavy thinning is better than light thinning, and early thinning is better than late thinning. In a study of smallholder teak demonstration plots in Kunung Kidul, Java, Rohadi et al. (2012) found that thinning 60% of stem number and conducting pruning increased DBH by 60% and tree height by 124% over a two year period compared to the control (no pruning, no thinning). As a generalization, the farmers shared an idea that ‘the more trees, the better’, which did not encourage proper thinning practice. Instead, thinning most commonly took the form of harvesting the largest trees when cash was needed, rather than for improving the growth and quality of the remaining trees.

Pruning was also mainly conducted for reasons other than best practice management; in this case to provide firewood rather than to improve the quality of the stem, which was reflected by the low number of high quality stems in the Central Java sites. Similar results on the lack of proper silvicultural management and low quality of the smallholder teak plantations were found in other studies in Java (Roshetko and Manurung 2009, Perdana et al. 2012). In fact, Roshetko and Manurung (2009) describe the smallholder teak systems in Java as being over-stocked, slow growing, and thus of suboptimal quality and production.

The lack of thinning and relatively short rotation lengths, especially in the teak case, also influences the wood quality. Longer rotations are essential if the aim is to produce good quality logs for high-end uses, as longer rotations produce higher diameter stems with more heart wood (Bhat 1997, Krishnapillay 2000, Kollert and Cherubini 2012). In the smallholder teak plantations in this study, the rotation lengths were mostly shorter than 20 years, from which less high quality wood can be produced. The study in India by Bhat (1997) also showed that faster diameter growth rates were associated with higher heartwood content and thus higher timber value. Thus, using thinning for improving the diameter growth of selected trees is important if the aim is to maximize the diameter growth of individual trees and improve the wood quality. Perez and Kanninen (2005) also found that thinning techniques influence the quality of teak wood, whereby moderate and heavy thinning yielded the highest percentages of heartwood volume.

Furthermore, most of the mahogany planting farmers indicated that they compared the quality of their stands with the stands of other farmers that were known to have high quality stands. The farmers with high quality stands were two farmers that were particularly active in farmers groups who practiced proper silvicultural management and had several mahogany stands of a high quality. These farmers were highly motivated and skilled in mahogany planting and they readily advised the other farmers. Their well-managed woodlots provided an important demonstration for other farmers to understand the importance of adequate silvicultural management. The enthusiasm of these role-model mahogany planters encouraged other farmers to improve their own silvicultural management practices. This is a pattern found also in other studies, whereby the demonstration effect of successful tree planters (especially if they have ‘social status’) has encouraged others planting activities (Current et al. 1995, Mahapatra and Mitchell 2001, Walters et al. 2005, Perdana et al. 2012).

It has been demonstrated that the personal character and enthusiasm of the people guiding tree planting and management is highly important for success (Amacher et al. 1993, Song et al. 1997). Sometimes however, the demonstration effect may not be positive. For example, in teak plantations in Kunung Kidul, Java, Perdana et al. (2012) found that farmers observations of their neighbors conducting the same sub-standard practices as themselves tended to reinforce these habits. In such a case, farmers did not realize the potential improvements that could be made to the quality and growth (and potentially the price) of their wood through improved silvicultural management practices. Similar tendencies were occurring in the teak study sites in Central Java in this study.

A lack of technical knowledge or training is often mentioned as a factor limiting farmers’ silvicultural activity (e.g. Byron 2001), and thus forest extension services have been found to have a positive effect on tree planting activity and management (Salam et al. 2000). In this study, none of the teak planters, only 40% of the mahogany planters, and about 20% of the kadam planters received training (forest extension). Mahogany planters who received training always applied four or five of the recommended silvicultural practices, while farmers who did not receive training applied fewer practices.

Most of the mahogany and kadam planters conducted the recommended silvicultural practices, but just conducting them did not in itself cause the variation in farmers’ plantation performance. Only approximately half of the mahogany and kadam plantations were of high quality. The varying quality of the stands in all the sites was most likely attributable to the varying seedling or site quality, or the specific methods and timing used for the silvicultural practices. Approximately half of the field team’s observations on stand quality were similar to farmers’ observations. When the farmers’ perceptions and field teams’ observations differed, it was without any constant direction. All the teak planters and most of the mahogany planters decided themselves which species to plant, while most of the kadam planters’ species selection decision was influenced by the company that provided the seedlings. The fact that so many farmers had decided to plant mahogany and teak themselves is a strong indication of the perceived value of tree farming, if only as a part of their livelihood strategy. The farmers that decided which species to plant themselves were more likely to have favorable or highly favorable attitudes towards tree planting, and were more likely to be willing to continue tree planting. The kadam planters, however – who had less favorable attitudes towards tree planting – consequently conducted fewer silvicultural practices. These results, as found by several other researchers (e.g. Hyman 1983, Evans 1992, Arnold 2001), emphasize the importance of species selection that is matched to the local conditions and markets. There is a risk that farmers who plant trees that are only suitable for timber production (as advised by foresters or industries) could be doing so despite that more convenient and or more beneficial species would better suit their livelihood needs (e.g. multipurpose trees with different products and services). But as pointed out by Jagger et al. (2005), and as emphasized by the success and popularity of teak planting in Central Java, planting multipurpose species is not always a more suitable option than planting species with a single product. There are also risks that farmers are encouraged by rehabilitation programs to plant local species (for environmental purposes) for which markets do not yet exist (e.g. Schackelton et al. 2007).