ABSTRACT
While natural forests in the tropics continue to disappear at unabated speed, plantations gain increasingly in importance for providing environmental goods and services (Varmola and Carle, 2002; Evans and Turnbull, 2004; Homma, 2005; Bacha, 2006). Many countries in the tropics have set up afforestation and reforestation projects to improve degraded forest lands, fight desertification, prevent soil erosion and maintain water quality (Blay et al, 2004; MINAG and INRENA, 2005; Chokkalingam et al, 2006). As plantations promise high yields with simple technologies (Homma, 2005; Almeida et al, 2006), for decades governments and development organizations have been investing in exploring the potential of plantations for smallholders (UN, 2002; Chokkalingam et al, 2006). These efforts have included social programmes in large plantation companies, so-called outgrower schemes (Mayers and Vermeulen, 2002; Wightman et al, 2006) as well as the promotion of plantations managed by smallholders themselves.
