Report
Plantations and social conflict: exploring the differences between small-scale and large-scale plantation forestry
February 2007 - Jacki Schirmer
Commercial afforestation of agricultural land is often associated with social conflict over the perceived environmental, economic and social impacts of the plantations being established. One of the most common solutions suggested to this conflict is a shift from large-scale afforestation by companies and government agencies to small-scale afforestation by individual landholders.
Small-scale afforestation by farmers is argued by many to have more positive and fewer negative impacts than large-scale afforestation by non-farmers. However, few studies have examined whether small-scale afforestation is associated with less social conflict than large-scale afforestation, which is what this article will explore in-depth.