Agroforestry is a win–win solution in terms of restoring forest function while benefiting the local community. This research aimed to (1) understand the regulations concerning protected area management and the restoration strategies adopted based on the history of forest degradation in the area, (2) investigate the factors driving local people to adopt agroforestry systems in the area, and (3) investigate the characteristics of the agroforestry system developed and its impacts based on farmers’ perceptions. This research was performed in Wan Abdul Rachman Grand Forest Park, Lampung Province, Indonesia, and involved interviewing 59 respondents who managed 63 agroforestry plots in the area. Several schemes had been implemented to restore the degraded forest without involving the community, and the results were unsatisfactory. Changing the regulations concerning managing conservation forests to involve the community and providing legal permits and support from the management improved forest function due to community willingness to implement the agroforestry system. About 81% of observed plots consisted of 5–12 plant species, and 16% of plots consisted of 13–16 species per plot. Theobroma cacao was the most common species in the agroforestry plots, followed by Durio zibethinus, Parkia speciosa, and Aleurites moluccana. The size of the agroforestry plot affected the number of species in the plot. The community perception demonstrated that agroforestry has positive impacts on livelihood, the environment, and biodiversity at the landscape level.

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The development of molecular markers unambiguously distinguishing groups at different taxonomic levels has numerous forensic applications. The identification of tropical timber is of particular interest in this context. We describe the development of SCAR (Sequence Characterized Amplified Region) markers for forensic applications taking the example of two closely related species of the tropical tree family Shorea (Dipterocarpaceae). Two AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism) fragments have been described earlier showing strong differentiation between S. leprosula and S. parvifolia. The AFLP markers were isolated from a gel, re-amplified, cloned and sequenced. Primer sets were designed from these sequences and AFLP fragments were converted into SCAR markers. The SCAR markers and PCR-RFLP markers of the chloroplast region trnLF digested with Hinf I were used to screen in total 557 samples of S. parvifolia and S. leprosula from nineteen widely separated populations in Indonesia. Complete genetic differentiation between species was observed based on the putatively nuclear SCAR marker and the PCR-RFLP of the cpDNA region. We found a good agreement between leaf morphological variation and species identification based on both marker types and no indication for interspecific hybridization.

The role of plantation forests will become more important in the future, along with the increasing demand for wood. However, pest infestation problems may represent significant obstacles to the development of sustainable forest plantations. Bagworms are one of the most important pests in Indonesian plantation forests. Outbreaks of bagworms have occurred in different tree species for wood or non-wood resources. This paper presents the first review of bagworms in Indonesian plantation forests. This review presents the diversity of bagworms, their pest status, and the factors affecting the outbreaks. More than 70 bagworm species were recorded in Indonesia, which is higher than the species richness recorded in neighboring countries. The subfamily Oiketicinae has the highest number of species, followed by Typhoniinae and Taleporiinae. The highest bagworm richness has been recorded in Western Indonesia, except for Papua, where many new species have recently been described. More than 10 species of bagworms have been reported as pests in Indonesian forest trees. Pteroma plagiophleps is currently considered the most important pest in the forestry sector because of the wide range of forest trees used as hosts. Bagworm outbreaks have been reported in forest trees since 1924. The first outbreak occurred only in pines in Sumatra. Currently, outbreaks occur in more host plants and on other islands. Bagworm outbreaks are influenced by multiple factors, such as the biology of the bagworms, their host plants and natural enemies, climate, and silvicultural practices.