Effects of information and seedling provision on tree planting and survival in smallholder oil palm plantations

Abstract

Native tree planting in oil palm plantations represents one management option to increase biodiversity in oil palm dominated landscapes. Using a randomized controlled trial, we test which policy options can promote tree planting. Our policy interventions include pure information provision and a combination of information and free seedling provision. Results from a double-hurdle model suggest that both interventions are effective in stimulating tree planting in oil palm plantations. While both interventions motivate a small share of farmers to make substantial planting efforts, the combined intervention additionally induces low-intensity planting among a large share of farmers. The combination of seedling and information provision is thus more likely to spread diversified plantations over a larger area and hence might generate broader biodiversity effects. Our results provide evidence that free seedling provision does not crowd out own planting effort and is more effective under seed access constraints. While cost effectiveness does not differ significantly between the two interventions, we identify potential leverage points to increase tree survival rates among farmers who received seedlings in the intervention.