Many tropical countries are experiencing massive land-use change with profound environmental and socioeconomic implications. In Indonesia, oil palm cultivation is rapidly expanding at the expense of more traditional crops - such as rubber and rice - and forest land. While environmental effects of...

This study examines the impacts of ecosystem degradation on social welfare, focusing on the mangrove-fishery linkage in Indonesia. Using nationally representative household data combined with satellite information on spatiotemporal mangrove loss, the study finds that fishery households experienced...

Oil palm production is an important income source for millions of smallholder farmers in the tropics. Oftentimes, yields in smallholder systems are low, entailing larger area requirements and higher than necessary rates of deforestation. Smallholder performance differs spatially, even within...

Regardless of the environmental and socio-ecological implications of oil palm cultivation, oil palm is considered one of the most important oil crops in the world because of its high production efficiency which has seen a marked increase in the area under cultivation. While previous studies have...

Palm oil makes a significant contribution to the economies of Indonesia and Malaysia through private corporations, state-owned companies and smallholders, with the two countries supplying 85% of the global palm oil. Indonesia has 14 million hectares (ha) of oil palm; its palm oil exports were...

Natural capital will be depleted rapidly and excessively if the long-term, offsite impacts of depletion are ignored. By examining the case of tropical forest burning, we illustrate such myopia: Pursuit of short-term economic gains results in air pollution that causes long-term, irreversible health...

This paper employs a partial equilibrium model to investigate the economic and environmental impact of commercial bioethanol production from biomass on the Malaysian agricultural markets. The results show that the palm oil mills can produce bioethanol commercially as the mills utilize the waste...

Many regions in Southeast Asia are experiencing massive land-use change. While areas covered with tropical forests and traditional agricultural crops, such as rubber, are shrinking, oil palm plantations are rapidly gaining ground. Recent studies have analyzed environmental effects of this land-use...

Production rate of oil palm has been increased in Indonesia to meet the high demand of products. In response, companies and smallholders have improved their production through expansions. In 2018, plantation occupied a land mass of 3.4 million hectares, leading to environmental, social, and...

In almost all forms of agriculture and farming practice, land clearing is the initial step. In Indonesia, in general, the most cost effective means of clearing land is through the use of fire. However, this use of fire often results in uncontrolled outbreaks, particularly in lowland areas...