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Tropical forests play a key role in the world carbon cycle and in maintaining biodiversity, but agricultural activities as well as the extraction of forest products are threatening these functions. Empirical evidence from developing countries suggests that forest products play an important role as a source of income for rural households, particularly for the rural poor. There is, however, still a lack of quantitative studies on the link between poverty and forest products. The research presented in this chapter seeks to fill the gap in general knowledge on the link between poverty, livelihood systems, and extraction of forest products. Considering as an example the vicinity of the Lore-Lindu National Park (LLNP) in Central Sulawesi/Indonesia, this chapter analyses the importance of forest products, especially for the rural poor, and identifies underlying factors which drive households into the forest. Moreover, the paper investigates similarities and differences in the use of forest products in the village of Toro, where an agreement with the national park authority on the use of forest areas exists, and in the research area at large, where such agreements did not exist.

In the vicinity of the LLNP, 76% of the households collect forest products, with firewood being the most important product. The sale of forest products contributes only 7% to the total household income of all households, with 17% of the households participating in this activity. Almost three-quarters of the income from forest products originates from the sale of rattan. Differentiating forest product income by wealth groups shows the importance of forest products, especially rattan, as a source of income for the poorest households. 21% of the total household income of the poorest households originates from the selling of forest products and 30% of these households reported to have income from forest products. Participation in the sale of forest products is influenced by the wealth of the household, the area of land owned, education, ethnicity, and access to road infrastructure.

Based on participatory mapping, the area of the village of Toro is divided into six sections for which different use options are defined. In the so-called , a 20–25 years old secondary forest, forest products can be collected for home consumption, but not for sale. Our empirical results reflect these regulations. 4 years after implementation of the village agreement, the share of households collecting forest products is significantly higher in Toro than in the research area. But, the share of households which sell their products as well as the mean sales value is much lower in Toro implying lower levels of extraction. This result is strengthened by the econometric analysis, which found that the village agreement has a strong negative influence on the likelihood of selling forest products beyond other factors.

Most native forests in Latin America are highly fragmented. In the mid elevation areas of Northern Latin America, the agricultural matrix is frequently composed of coffee. In this region, coffee has been traditionally cultivated under the diverse canopy of shade trees, representing a high quality matrix that can contribute to the social and ecological stability of the region. This agroforestry system has been proven to be important for biodiversity conservation. Studies over the last fifteen years have shown that shaded coffee plantations maintain a high diversity of vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. These organisms play an important role in the functioning of coffee agroecosystems. Shaded coffee plantations promote a high abundance and diversity of natural enemies that help to regulate herbivores, weeds and diseases. Shaded plantations also harbor a higher diversity of native pollinators which have been shown to contribute to higher coffee yields. Likewise, the diverse shade-tree component contributes to soil fertility and soil conservation and has been shown to contribute significantly to carbon sequestration. As a matrix, coffee agroforests also contribute to the conservation of biodiversity within forest fragments by promoting migration among fragments and facilitating a metapopulation structure. Three “sustainable” coffee certification programs have been developed to help farmers cope with the vagaries of the market: organic, fair-trade and biodiversity-friendly (or shade-grown). Although certified coffees still represent a small niche market, they have the potential to promote conservation and benefit the livelihoods of small producers. Especially under conditions of low international coffee prices, as those experienced in the first years of this century, these certification programs have contributed to the ecological and socio-economic stability of the coffee growing regions of northern Latin America.

The determination and evaluation of ecosystem services provides crucial information for a comprehensive strategy to preserve near natural habitats such as rainforest margins. We show results of an economic evaluation of coffee bee pollination services and pest control in two distinct tropical regions: a low human-impact area in Indonesia with continuous near natural forests neighboring agroforestry and a high-impact landscape in Ecuador with almost no forest fragments left. We evaluate bee pollination services comparing forest destruction scenarios, where coffee yields depend on forests providing nesting sites and foraging habitats for bees and present three novel approaches: first, we show how net coffee revenues depend on pollination services of adjacent forests considering berry weight in addition to fruit set, thereby providing a more comprehensive evaluation. Second, we combine our findings on pollination with an assessment of pest management affecting coffee production. Third, we determine net welfare effects of land-use changes including the fact that former forestland is normally used for alternative crops. In both regions, crop revenues exceed coffee pollination values, generating incentives to convert forest margins even if owners would be compensated for pollination services. The promotion of certified “biodiversity-friendly” coffee is a feasible option to maintain shade-coffee systems for conservation purposes. This is of special importance in high-impact areas where only small forest fragments remain. We conclude that a comprehensive economic analysis is necessary to adequately evaluate rainforest preservation for the enhancement of ecosystem services within a mosaic of competing land-use systems.

The ongoing loss of pristine tropical rainforests increases the potential importance of agroforestry systems for the conservation of tropical arthropod diversity. Shaded agroforestry systems can still support high levels of biodiversity, even resembling those supported by undisturbed forests, but intensively managed open agroforestry systems may cause severe losses in insect diversity. In this study we evaluate the conservation value of agroforestry systems for species richness and diversity (Simpson’s index) of four insect groups at natural forest sites and three different types of cacao-dominated agroforestry systems in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The agroforestry systems were characterised by low, intermediate and high diversity of shade trees. Each habitat type was studied with 4 replicates, i.e. 16 study sites altogether. We compared responses of solitary bees and wasps, dung beetles and lower canopy dwelling beetles and ants. These taxa represent diverse and functionally important insect groups: solitary bees and wasps act as crop pollinators or pest predators, dung beetles as decomposers of mammalian excrements and canopy dwelling beetles and ants include abundant herbivores and predators. High percentages of forest species did not occur in agroforestry systems, but diversity and species richness in agroforests remained as high as or even higher than in the forest lower canopy. Diversity, species richness and abundance of the functionally important dung beetles and canopy ants showed strong resilience against both forest conversion and changes in agroforestry management. Diversity, species richness and abundance of solitary bees and wasps as well as canopy beetles even seemed to profit from the effects of opening the upper canopy that was related to forest conversion and changes in shade tree compositions. On the latter two groups the effects of opening the upper canopy were stronger than effects of reduced shade tree richness. Based on our results, we recommend the inclusion of agroforestry systems with a diversity of shade trees in tropical conservation plans in addition to pristine forest reserves. Furthermore, regional differences in local agroforestry management contributed to between 31% (for dung beetles) and 58% (for canopy beetles) of the total species richness, which stresses the importance of conservation policies aimed at a diversity of habitat types on a broader landscape scale.

Homegardens are generally regarded as a very complex, species-rich agroforestry system managed in a sustainable manner over decades or even centuries. In many densely populated tropical regions, homegardens appear to be the last forest-like islands surrounded by increasingly extended, uniform staple crop fields. With their multi-layered vegetation structure, homegardens serve as an important habitat for wild flora and fauna in these areas. They fulfil not only important ecological, but also many social and cultural functions. However, the major purposes of homegardens are subsistence production and income generation, particularly in rural areas. At forest margins, high production levels in homegardens might help to reduce deforestation. Furthermore, homegardens should be considered as a model for sustainable agroforestry systems, integrating both economic and ecological advantages. Plant diversity, as a basis for homegarden productivity and sustainability, is influenced by a combination of agro-ecological as well as socio-economic factors. The complex interactions of all these factors are not yet fully understood. This paper presents an overview of the existing knowledge and identifies gaps regarding the factors determining plant species diversity and composition in homegardens. We further illustrate this with two case studies from Indonesia (Central Sulawesi and West Java), in which temporal and spatial variations were investigated. In conclusion, plant diversity was mainly influenced by elevation as well as commercialisation, urbanisation, and fragmentation. It was fairly dynamic over time, particularly, when commercialisation was possible. To preserve the sustainability of homegardens and their suitability for conservation of plant genetic resources, any promotion to intensify production in homegardens should consider the overall ecological functioning of the system in a landscape context.

The large-scale exploitation and conversion of tropical forests causes growing concern about the continued existence of the rich biodiversity of these forests. In the framework of the interdisciplinary STORMA project in Lore Lindu National Park area in Central Sulawesi, we studied tree diversity in six different land use types in the margins of submontane rain forest: undisturbed forest, forest with rattan extraction, selectively logged forest, cacao forest gardens, cacao plantations with mixed canopy of planted trees, and cacao plantations with a monospecific canopy. By analyzing such a finely subdivided use gradient it was attempted to answer the question how human usage and biodiversity conservation in the study area may be reconciled. Tree species (dbh > 10 cm) were sampled in 24 plots of 0.25 ha in all six land use types (4 replicates each). In total, 251 tree species (143 genera, 59 families) were recorded. Number of tree species per 0.25 ha was 51–63 in primary forest and gradually decreased towards the studied cacao systems. However, when native and cultivated tree species were considered separately, significant differences were detected among plantation types in terms of tree diversity. Tree endemism in forest plots totalled ca. 15% and was in good accordance with endemism in woody plants of Sulawesi. The number of endemic species was strongly reduced in cacao systems, although percentage endemism did not decline significantly in cacao forest gardens. Roughly one third of tree species in the forest plots were of economic importance as commercial timber trees; timber diversity was little affected by moderate human use of the forest but was significantly reduced in cacao forest gardens and dropped to near zero in other plantation types. The mean basal area of 57 m (36–80 m) per ha in natural forest was lower than the previously recorded value from the study area but is still almost double as high as the mean value typical for tropical lowland forests in Southeast Asia.

The results of this study support the notion that tree diversity in the submontane forests of Central Sulawesi is unusually high and rich in large-sized timber trees, although tree size varies locally. Moderate human use of the forest ecosystems does not significantly affect tree diversity. We conclude that conservation of tropical tree diversity is compatible with human exploitation of tropical forest as long as a canopy of native trees is maintained. Future conservation policies in rain forest margin areas should therefore focus on developing measures aimed at sustainable use of the natural resources. Promotion of such activities may help to stabilize tropical rain forest margins in Central Sulawesi.

In many smallholder farming systems in the humid tropics, the slash-and-burn practice is used for land preparation. Increasing land-use intensity by shortening fallow periods often contributes to the degradation of the natural resource base of the fallow system, i.e. the fallow vegetation and soil. In the eastern Amazon region of Brazil, we therefore searched for ways to maintain the sustainability of the traditional fallow system and to adapt it to changing agro-ecological and economic conditions.

We identified two major agro-ecological constraints of the traditional fallow system with slash-and-burn: (1) high losses of nutrients and organic matter during the burn, and (2), if land-use intensity increases, fallow regeneration capacity declines.

As alternatives to slash-and-burn, we studied modifications to those practices recognized to be harmful to the ecological sustainability of the fallow system, i.e. mulching for the management of soil organic matter and fire-free land clearing with bush choppers to transform fallow vegetation into mulch. Mulching allows extending the cropping period, planting crops off-season, and modifying crop rotations. Additionally, biomass and nutrient accumulation of degraded fallow vegetation can be improved by enrichment plantings using fast-growing leguminous tree species.

Our socio-economic analysis focused on the implications of technology change on income and land-cover change at farm and field levels. Based on farm-household data collected from 270 randomly selected households, a farm-household level bio-economic model was developed to analyze the consequences of improved access to mechanized plowing and mechanical mulching for typical smallholdings in the study area.

Model simulations suggest that the costs of mulching are still very high compared to other mechanized land preparation technologies that provide similar economic benefits from the farmers’ point of view. Among the recommendations to reduce mulching costs is the use of simpler mulching equipment on areas with young fallows.

Technology scenarios indicate that countervailing policy measures are necessary if mechanized chopping and mulching is to bring about the desired ecological benefits.

Taxes on ecologically undesirable forms of land preparation, e.g. slash and burn, are promising policy options to promote chopping-and-mulching or other fire-free land preparation techniques given that they can be provided at costs that range between 60 to 110 Euros ha. Tax revenues could be used for financing environmental conservation payments and/or a crop yield insurance that applies to crops that are produced using environmentally friendly production technologies.

This paper analyzes the comparative advantage of alternative forest management policies taking into account the subjective welfare judgment of individual rural households. The methodological approach chosen for this study is a financial farm household analysis combining both, economic data at the household level and natural science data of forest resources obtained in a research area in the Northwest of Madagascar. This interdisciplinary approach takes account of the interdependence between ecosystem dynamics and economic decision-making processes. By applying a poverty index, it is possible to make a further distinction between groups of rural households that are inherently different with regard to their economic potential and activities. The results of this study demonstrate that, due to their livelihood strategies, it is especially the poorest households that suffer most from a strict conservation approach, while better-off households would benefit more due to an improved provision of indirect forest services, particularly watershed protection. We also analyze the potential for compensating opportunity costs of restricted forest utilization through international transfer payments and the potential of implementing economic incentives for afforestation at the household level. In this context, we extend our analysis beyond mere economic aspects of resource management and provide further information how alternative management strategies can meet the increasing direct demand on forest resources, while also achieving the objective of biodiversity conservation. Lastly, the potential of forest resources to contribute to local and regional economic development in developing countries is discussed.

The establishment of tree crop plantations such as oil palms, coffee, or cocoa considerably contributes to the loss of tropical forests. Taking the case of cocoa production in Central Sulawesi as an example, this chapter investigates whether there is a potential for reducing deforestation by improving the productivity of tree crop plantations in rainforest margin areas by better crop management. Increased productivity would enable farmers to earn a living from a smaller area of land; thus, the expansion of low-productivity perennial cropping systems into forest land can be viewed as a waste of forest resources. In order to assess whether the productivity of the existing cocoa plantations in the research area could potentially be improved, the level of technical efficiency attained is estimated. A farmer is technically inefficient if he fails to produce the maximum output attainable for the level of inputs he uses. Technical inefficiency is caused by lacking know-how, for example with respect to the timeliness of agricultural operations such as weed control or crop hygienic measures.

After introducing the concept of technical efficiency (TE) and describing the method of Stochastic Frontier analysis to empirically estimate the level of TE, we show how this method was applied to our Sulawesi case. Using data collected in a sample of 202 farm households, we estimate separate Stochastic Frontier production functions for the two most important crops in the research area: cocoa, the primary cash crop, the cultivation of which has become widespread only in the 1990s, and irrigated rice (paddy) that has been grown for generations. Apart from estimating the levels of TE attained, we also investigate the influencing factors of efficiency in one single statistical procedure.

The estimated average TE in rice production is 77% as opposed to only 37% in cocoa cultivation; thus, the potential to increase production by improving crop management (not by increasing the level of input use!) is particularly large in the case of cocoa. The analysis of the factors influencing TE shows that poverty and illiteracy have an efficiency reducing effect in both rice and cocoa production. Agricultural extension services significantly increase efficiency in rice cultivation while this effect is not observed in cocoa production.

Acknowledging that increasing the productivity of perennial cropping systems in forest margin areas may also create incentives for deforestation, we then discuss the conditions under which enhanced productivity can be expected to have a forest saving or a forest clearing effect. We finally assess the likely outcome of improved TE in the case of Central Sulawesi and conclude that the comparatively low efficiency level currently found indicates a considerable potential for reducing deforestation by increasing farm incomes on already converted forest land, thus meeting both environmental and economic objectives. Policy interventions aimed at realizing this potential should include improved agricultural extension focusing on technical advice on the proper management of cocoa, but, at the same time, they need to control the influx of migrants attracted by the profitability of cocoa cultivation.

Human activity endangers tropical forests in different parts of the world. The conflicting interests of nature conservation on the one hand, and the livelihood of farmers living at the forest margins, on the other, clash noticeably in so-called hotspots of biodiversity, such as the Lore Lindu region of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversity generally decreases along a land use gradient from natural forest to agroforestry and annual crop systems. Thus, before solutions for a sustainable balance between conservation and the needs of people living at the forest margins can be sought, changing land use strategies and the factors that influence them must be analyzed. While similar studies often concentrate on economic indicators of land use change only, this chapter highlights the importance of two cultural realities, namely migration and ethnicity. We will demonstrate the great influence of these two factors on land use decisions and on the accessibility of land in the Lore Lindu region.

Based on results from previous qualitative studies, we selected three upland villages, which represent a continuum that leads, in terms of migration history, from a pre-transition village, to a transitional village, to a post-transition village. We used quantitative and qualitative methods for our analysis.

The results show a general land use change in the region, ranging from a strategy that places food first (e.g., rice) to one that places cash first, especially by the cultivation of cacao. This change cannot be observed to the same extent in the study region as a whole. It varies from village to village, depending on the share of households belonging to the Bugis migrants. Bugis as an ethnic group and as migrants have an enormous effect on the land use decisions of local ethnic groups in their respective villages. Strong ethnic networks among Bugis migrants play an important role not only with respect to their village preferences, but also with respect to the transfer of knowledge regarding agricultural management. A lack of interaction between local and migrant ethnic groups results in differences in the efficiency of cacao cultivation. While the Bugis migrants mainly buy their agricultural land from local farmers or, depending on the village’s migration history, from other Bugis households, members of the autochthonous ethnic group usually clear the primary forest. The findings of the present study reveal that an analysis of migration and ethnicity is a crucial precondition to finding sustainable solutions for ensuring that the margins of the rainforest in the Lore Lindu region remain stable. This chapter will emphasize that, in addition to economic considerations, an analysis of the cultural forces that influence land use changes cannot be neglected.