Local perceptions of oil palm plantation: Case study in Kumai subdistrict, Central Kalimantan

Being directly affected by oil palm plantation development, local people's opinions need to be acknowledged as they indicate the future development of the plantation. This study was conducted to analyse the local people's perceptions of oil palm plantations. A five-point Likert scale household survey was conducted in August 2017 in one hamlet and two villages where a new oil palm plantation had just been developed (trees planted in 2013). The statements were read by a surveyor to 97 respondents selected using convenience sampling. The results were analysed using descriptive qualitative analysis. The study found that the local people's perceptions of oil palm plantations had both common and distinct results, based on the location and community characteristics. People in the three study sites showed some common perceptions towards the economic and social impacts of the oil palm plantation, with economic impacts receiving the most positive perceptions. People showed the most positive attitudes towards the plantation's impacts in increasing employment (95.56%) and decreasing urbanisation (95.56%). On the contrary, their perceptions of the plantation's environmental impacts received the lowest positive perceptions. However, unlike the negative accusations towards the plantation's impact on forest and land fires, all respondents agreed that the company did not cause the fires.