A Supplemental HCVF Assessment on the Sumatran Tiger ...

FINAL REPORT Tiger <strong>HCVF</strong> <strong>Supplemental</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> – Serapung FMU
coconut palms are harvestable. Fishing ranks second as a means of livelihood in most
communities around the FMU.
Through interpretation of satellite imagery SmartWood has characterised agricultural
land use patterns in and around the FMU. A total of 35 separate smallholder areas
were identified, ranging in size from 3 to 238 ha (on average, 54 Ha/site), amounting to
an area of 1,877 ha of agricultural small holdings in and around the FMU. However,
only approximately half of these sites possessed simple dwellings for temporary living.
Small-scale agriculture by local people appears to be fraught with difficulties, an
example of this being the devastating predations of the rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes
rhinoceros) on coconut plantations, resulting in the abandonment of a large proportion
of plots adjacent to the FMU.
SmartWood reports the high importance of small-scale timber harvesting and
sawmilling for local people around the FMU, with as much as 70% of cash income
generated by unlicensed logging and milling activities. Livelihood strategies however
tend to be diversified, with most households utilising both farming and logging activities
in order to meet their economic needs. Certainly the informal logging activities of all
four villages described above are currently focused on the remaining forests within and
adjacent to the FMU. Sustainable forestry practices do not appear to feature in the
livelihood strategies of these local people, where forests are valued primarily as a
source of timber at the lowest cost (regardless of whether or not the forest survives), or
as a means to obtain land for agriculture.
Oil palm cultivation is becoming an increasingly attractive concept amongst farmers
living around the FMU, primarily due to newly arising cost-effective opportunities to sell
fresh palm bunches to nearby palm-oil processing plants. Plans for a 100 ha oil palm
plantation in the Yos area are indicative of likely future land-use trends around the
FMU.
Table 2. Extent of natural and planted forests in the Serapung I forest management unit
as of September 2004 (data from SmartWood report, November 2004).
Concession Land Use Area (ha) % of Total Area
Production (Produksi) - Natural 2,820 25
- Cleared 1,510 13
- Planted 3,172 28
Community Livelihood (Kehidupan) 381 3
Indigenous trees (Unggulan) 1,179 10
Conservation (Konservasi) 1,343 12
Infrastructure 163 1
Informal agricultural smallholdings 836 7
Total Natural Forest 5,723 50
Total Other Uses 5,681 50
Total 11,404 100
Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program Pg 10/68