Plantations and sustainable rural communities

Tree plantations are often hailed as providing a wide range ofeconomic, social and environmental benefits to rural regions. Yetin many of the regions where plantations have been established,members of rural communities and environmental groups haveexpressed various concerns about the effects of large-scale treeplantings. If plantations are bringing so many benefits to theseregions, why is there social concern and sometimes active disputeover their establishment? This paper examines the nature of theseconcerns and disputes by reviewing some of the literature on socialimplications of plantations, and by drawing on four case studiesfrom the south-west of Western Australia. During the past decadethis region has experienced a rapid increase in plantation forestry.While some see the industry as a positive development, there arealso widespread concerns about the negative effects of this changein land use. The paper also investigates recent measures adoptedby plantation companies, local governments and State and federalgovernment agencies to address and resolve concerns. It reveals that a number of these strategies provide opportunities to channel social concerns over plantations into productive processes that allow differing views to be expressed and acted upon.