Does Tree Planting Change Minds? Assessing the Use of Community Participation in Reforestation to Address Illegal Logging in West Kalimantan

Abstract

Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia has been persistently threatened by illegal logging for the past several decades. Subsequent fires have led to the encroachment of noxious grasses such as Imperata cylindrica, which have arrested succession to secondary forest within and around the park. Since 2009, local NGO Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) has reforested 20 hectares of degraded Imperata grassland within the park, with the goal of restoring forest area and decreasing the incidence of illegal logging inside the park by providing jobs and income to local people. In February 2013, a survey was conducted to assess the social impacts of the reforestation program, and to test the hypothesis that participation in reforestation can reduce instances of illegal logging through two pathways: (1) economic improvement for participants; (2) altering perceptions towards illegal logging. Structured interviews were conducted with 50 local residents, one-third of which identified as former illegal loggers, to gauge their perceptions towards forest conservation and illegal logging. The survey found that 80% of respondents believed that the reforestation program helped to reduce illegal logging in the park. However, the pathways through which this change occurred were different from those hypothesized. There was little evidence supporting the “perceptions change” pathway, but greater evidence supporting the “economic improvement” pathway through the medium of skill-building rather than direct economic improvement. Approximately 50% of participants reported engaging in self-directed tree planting activities post-involvement. These results suggest that forest restoration can effectively be used as a community-engagement tool to address illegal logging.