Indonesian peatlands play a critical role in global carbon storage and biodiversity conservation, but they face significant ongoing threat of degradation and loss due to human-induced pressures, including the development of industrial plantations, agricultural expansion, extractive forestry practices, and recurrent fires. The imperative to restore these peatlands is significant, but the restoration effort has, so far, been underwhelming. This paper systematically reviews studies that have assessed the economic costs and benefits of peatland restoration in Indonesia. It summarizes the substantial economic stakes involved in peatland restoration efforts, ranging from millions to billions of dollars. The collective findings emphasize the significant costs required for restoration, alongside the potential economic benefits derived from environmental conservation, climate change mitigation, and sustainable land management. These economic valuations are complemented by a holistic consideration of ecological, social, and cultural factors, providing valuable insights for policymakers and decision-makers. However, while these studies have offered valuable insights into various aspects such as local preferences, willingness to pay, financial costs, and potential economic benefits, none have comprehensively explored the potential trade-offs or forgone opportunities resulting from the proposed restoration programs. This is a critical gap in current research and practice. We illustrate the need for more systemic learning about how peatlands are valued to advance a transition towards healthier peatlands in Indonesia.

Plantation forest site preparation through pushing and heaping of harvest residues to create windrows that are then burnt redistributes surface biomass and topsoil organic matter and reduces site nutrient capital. On sandy low nutrient soils of Melville Island (Australia), harvest residue burning has been applied to prepare sites for planting, creating areas of poor growth in non-ash bed areas and good growth in ash-bed areas. This study was established to quantify the ash-bed effect on Eucalyptus pellita growth at two sites, to investigate soil properties associated with it, and to trial corrective nutrient additions to non-ash bed areas at nine years after establishment. More rapid initial tree growth in areas where topsoil and biomass had been heaped and burnt was countered by poor growth between windrows in non-ash-bed areas. E. pellita growth in ash-bed soils averaged 25.4-26.9 m3 ha-1 yr-1 across the two sites (Yapilika and Kilu Impini), while in the non-ash bed soils it ranged between 11.9 and 23.0 m3 ha-1 yr-1. At the Yapilika site, nutrient applications (macro nutrients +/- micro nutrients) to non-ash bed E. pellita increased diameter by 18-23 % and macro nutrients applications increased tree height by 11 %. Soils sampled eight years after site preparation showed that soil organic matter, pH, and most nutrients were higher in ash-bed soils relative to non-ash bed soils. To maintain the sustainability of E. pellita plantations grown on sandy soils with low nutrient capital, it is strongly recommended to conserve harvest residues and topsoil organic matter and avoid topsoil redistribution and nutrient loss through windrowing and burning. The avoidance of burning reduces the loss of nutrients directly to the atmosphere (e.g. nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S)) and to the hydrosphere (e.g. N, phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), and S) and optimizes nutrient retention on site.

CONTEXT Agroforestry provides numerous benefits to agricultural landscapes, including timber production, carbon sequestration and enhanced biodiversity. Critically, agroforestry also influences the productivity of pasture, crops, and livestock. The magnitude and direction of the effect, however, is highly variable due to factors including the type of agroforestry (e.g., windbreak, alley, silvopasture), the condition of the trees (e.g., height, age, species), planting location and climatic conditions. However, currently there is limited information that quantifies how variation in these drivers affects the influence of agroforestry on agricultural yields. OBJECTIVES In this quantitative review we aimed to determine the magnitude of the effect that silvopasture, paddock trees and linear agroforestry systems have on agricultural productivity relative to a treeless comparison. In addition, we attempted to understand how the effect of agroforestry varied with factors such as tree condition, climate, and weather. METHODS A global literature review was conducted examining two key agroforestry types (non-intercropped linear systems such as windbreaks and hedges, and dispersed pasture systems such as paddock trees and silvopasture). Agricultural productivity responses of these systems compared to a treeless control were extracted and the size of the effect was compared to a range of conditions of the agroforestry systems e.g. tree density, age, distance to tree, as well as a range of climate and weather conditions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS For the agroforestry types examined we found a strong evidence base for the effects on crop/pasture growth for linear agroforestry types (windbreaks, alleys) and on pasture growth in paddock tree/silvopasture systems (crop growth was not examined in these systems). There was limited information on the effects of linear agroforestry systems on livestock production. Linear agroforestry features were generally beneficial for crop and pasture growth. By comparison, silvopasture systems resulted in a reduction in both pasture and livestock productivity, although such systems are likely to provide other benefits for mitigating risk. Tree condition was a major factor driving effect size, the most prominent drivers being paddock size in linear configurations, and tree density in silvopasture systems. Climate variables also influenced the effect of agroforestry on productivity, indicating that both local and seasonal climate variation needs be considered when predicting effect sizes. SIGNIFICANCE This study provides important baseline information for valuing the effects linear and dispersed agroforestry types have on farm productivity and predicting under what conditions these effects will be optimised. Such information will aid in designing and implementing effective agroforestry systems.

Tropical peat swamp forest provides many ecosystem services to communities of local people in Indonesia, as well as to national and international communities. However, many Indonesian peatlands are degraded and thus susceptible to burning in the dry season and flooding in the wet season. Peat fires are a local, regional, national and international disaster, but the people most affected are those who live and work on peat at ground level whose livelihoods, health and children's education are highly vulnerable to such disasters. This article aims to assess the vulnerability of people and communities living on peatlands, and to understand the factors causing community vulnerability. We focused our study on the peat-dominated Tumbang Nusa Village in Central Kalimantan. The primary data for this study were collected by field observation and interviews with 52 villagers who were selected through stratified random sampling. We aimed to understand livelihoods, locations of the villagers' activities, agricultural technology applied in peatlands, community efforts to mitigate climate disasters, and participation in development programmes. Vulnerability was calculated as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, using IPCC methodology. The results show that the Tumbang Nusa community has a high degree of vulnerability, primarily owing to fire and flood. Additionally, the community relies on ecosystem services from a damaged environment and employs land management practices that are often unsustainable. Understanding the causes of vulnerability will help improve rural communities' development programmes and the design of empowerment programmes to reduce vulnerability.

Much of the peatland in Central Kalimantan is highly degraded because it has been cleared and drained over the last 30–40 years. Degraded peatland is highly susceptible to burning and oxidation and contributes 30–60 % of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of Indonesia. To combat these problems, the Government of Indonesia has made peatland restoration a high priority, with revitalisation of livelihoods being a critical component to help communities transition to rewet peat. We sought to understand this social transition in Tumbang Nusa, one of the villages that has had a high level of intervention through the recent peatland restoration efforts. Over the last five years, several new livelihood initiatives have been deployed in Tumbang Nusa including seven capacity building programs, five government assistance programs and 18 demonstration plots, but many of these initiatives have been unsuccessful, with only a handful of farmers having adopted the outcomes. In effect, the peatland has not been rewet and the community has largely not transitioned to a more sustainable set of livelihoods. To make peatland restoration work it is critical to overcome several barriers so that communities can embrace the restoration process and can drive it autonomously, rather than needing outside input and assistance to maintain momentum. There is also a clear need for a functioning carbon market, such that peatland communities benefit from peat rewetting. Only once the community directly benefits from restoration will it actively participate in ensuring its success.

In recent years, widespread peatland degradation has occurred in Indonesia as a result of both natural events and human activities. Although there is a strong push for restoration from national and international stakeholders, at the local level, farmers and communities are still widely managing peatlands with unsustainable practices including their conversion into agricultural land. To understand the causes of such a challenging situation, we carried out a survey to investigate the drivers of local livelihoods in the typical peatland village community of Kayu Labu in South Sumatra Province. Our findings showed that while the unsustainable practices adopted do not align with either the long-term interests of this community or the wider public interest, they do align with the best socioeconomic interests of the farmers. A preliminary examination of the livelihood options chosen illustrates the strong contrast between public and private interests. In particular, in local communities like Kayu Labu, the profit margins for oil palm and rubber are higher than those for sustainable alternatives. We conclude that, to address the problem of peatland degradation and to design successful and sustainable peatland restoration initiatives, decision-makers need to understand the local socioeconomic situation, people's livelihoods, and their expectations. A key option is to increase the roles and responsibilities of local communities in determining the rules that relate to land management. Only then are regulatory and policy interventions likely to improve peatland conservation and restoration outcomes.

Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia mangium are widely planted in the tropics and managed over five -to -fifteen -year rotations for wood and wood products. This study compares the growth of routine plantings of A. mangium with trial plantings of E. pellita and nearby native forests across six broadly distributed locations on Melville Island, northern Australia. In addition to tree growth measurements, litter mass and chemical properties, and topsoil (0 - 10 cm) physical and chemical parameters were assessed. Melville Island has a pronounced seasonal rainfall and soils that range from loamy sand to sandy loam textures; across the sites sampled soils comprised 65 - 85% sand and 8 - 16% clay. Across our sites, the maximum mean annual increment of E. pellita was 31.12 m 3 / ha/year compared to 14.64 m 3 /ha/year for A. mangium , with stand volume strongly positively correlated with clay content. On a site basis tree volume growth correlated strongly with soil clay content, with lower survival on sites with less clay in the predominantly sandy soils. The higher E. pellita growth compared with A. mangium reduced available phosphorous and calcium in topsoil, indicating that addition of P and Ca in subsequent rotations will be important to maintain and increase E. pellita productivity. The N 2 -fixing species, A. mangium , significantly increased nitrogen in litter (1.88 +/- 0.04%) and in top soil (0.15 +/- 0.01%) compared to E. pellita (litter 0.93 +/- 0.05%; topsoil 0.11 +/- 0.01%) so that carbon to nitrogen (C/ N) ratios in Acacia litter (23.90 +/- 0.81) and soil (23.06 +/- 0.91) were significantly lower than in Eucalyptus (litter 46.30 +/- 2.66; top soil 27.66 +/- 1.65). Topsoil C/N also decreased with increasing soil clay content in all land uses ( A. mangium, E. pellita, native forests) indicating better conditions for decomposer activity and turnover in sites with higher clay content soils. The Eucalyptus plantation drawdown of N and PO 4 3- in topsoil suggests that future plantings of E. pellita may benefit from additional N fixed into biomass and soil organic matter by the preceding A. mangium plantations. Tree growth correlations with rainfall and soil characteristics showed growth is best explained by annual rainfall, soil texture (as a percentage of clay or of sand), soil electrical conductivity, and soil bulk density. Overall, in tropical long dry season regions, for plantation development on sandy soils, E. pellita is a better choice than A. mangium .

Using a weight of evidence approach, natural capital outcomes associated with regenerative grazing and silvopastoral systems were compared to those associated with conventional grazing systems. The aim of the review was to better understand how grazing management influences 16 natural capital indicators likely to be material from both an economic and sustainability perspective for grazing enterprises and to assess the evidence for associated impacts, positive or negative, on the natural capital resources required to sustain the system. Material natural capital issues reviewed included water availability and security, water quality, soil health and pasture productivity, biodiversity and climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.The review confirms previous evidence that moderate to high levels of grazing tends to degrade natural capital, relative to light to moderate levels of grazing. In relation to regenerative grazing practices the responses were less clear. Regenerative grazing practices may have a positive impact on natural capital, particularly in relation to soil biodiversity and live weight gain on a per head basis. However, the evidence base suggests that the effect size may be small and may take some years to be realised. For 12 of the 16 indicators reviewed, the natural capital outcomes were inconclusive or unresolved even though for five of these indicators, the evidence base was considered to be robust. For the remainder of these the evidence base was insufficient to support an analysis of potential impacts. Similarly, for silvopastoral grazing management systems, there was some evidence to suggest that this type of grazing management could lead to improved natural capital outcomes. However, the evidence base was generally insufficient to definitively attribute the changes in grazing management practices to natural capital outcomes.Although the evidence base for many of the natural capital outcomes associated with differing grazing management practices is incomplete, it should not be interpreted that this indicates a lack of a beneficial response, where a beneficial response would be characterised by improved natural capital and enterprise productivity. Rather it highlights shortcomings in the underlying evidence. Very few studies have the capacity to fully account for the benefits of changes in management practices on the natural capital outcomes and the productivity of the enterprise simultaneously and over a sufficient period of time to observe change. This was particularly evident in relation to carbon storage. While there have been many studies that have examined changes in the individual stocks, e.g. soil carbon or emissions in relation to grazing management very few studies have examined the whole farm carbon balance. Increased adoption of processes such as natural capital accounting, although in their infancy, could help to address this challenge and facilitate a more systematic analysis an enterprises natural capital and financial performance.

Catastrophic fire events in the last decade have led to policy changes regarding the permitted use of fire in cropping systems in Indonesia. This has led to a multi-stakeholder approach to fire management in the extensive peatland systems of Sumatra and Kalimantan. This study seeks to identify key stakeholders and to map and identify their roles in peat fire management at the village level. Two case study villages were used: Kayu Labu in South Sumatra and Tumbang Nusa in Central Kalimantan. The study was conducted using a Responsible-Accountable-Consulted-Informed (RACI) matrix. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion (FGD) in each village. Our findings showed that the Village Head was the key actor in fire management at the village level. The other stakeholders had shared roles in a largely collaborative process that included the provision of additional funding for resources and training. However, stakeholder engagement in the restoration of burnt peatland was limited, and the engagement of villagers in fire prevention and control was compromised by the threat of sanctions associated with the prohibition of burning. The findings suggest that policy commitments need to be revised in a way that ensures better engagement between external stakeholders and villagers, and focuses on the need to protect livelihoods.

Maximising the growth and productivity of commercial plantations is critical for meeting global demands for wood and paper products, without resorting to unsustainable harvesting of native forests or increasing the plantation estate at the expense of other primary production systems. In Australia, productivity of plantation eucalypts is often limited by low nutrient availability and maintaining high growth rates is dependent on external nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs. Therefore, an important management tool for maximising productivity is optimising fertiliser use. To do this, an improved mechanistic understanding of the productivity response to nutrient supplementation is needed. Here, we used three large-scale fertiliser experiments in Eucalyptus nitens plantations in Tasmania, Australia, to test the effects of six levels of N fertiliser (0, 300, 450, 600, 1200 and 2200 kg/ha) and two levels of P fertiliser (0 and 200 kg/ha) on annual diameter increment and annual wood volume increment over a two-year period. We found that trees responded strongly to N application both at the individual tree level (diameter) and at the stand level (volume), but not until the second growing season post fertiliser application. The application of N fertiliser increased stand volume increment but not linearly, highlighting the existence of an optimal N application rate to maximise productivity, which was remarkably consistent between sites. Further, we found the relationship between N application rate and daily DBH growth followed a predictable seasonal pattern, indicating an influence of abiotic conditions on the response of tree growth to N application. These results show that applying mid-rotation N fertiliser can boost wood growth, and that amounts greater than those currently applied could be beneficial on many sites, if it is economically and environmentally feasible to do so.

Tropical peatlands in Indonesia have attracted international and domestic attention and concern in recent decades. Indonesian peatlands provide globally significant climate regulation and biodiversity provisioning ecosystem services and are central to the lives of local communities, yet they have undergone significant degradation via drainage and fire. There is a growing call for scientific knowledge of the social, environmental and practice dimensions of peatland restoration in Indonesia. This Special Volume of Mires and Peat is a collaborative effort by an Indonesian and Australian team of biophysical and social scientists to showcase primary research and systematic reviews that engage with the complexity of tropical peatland fire, conservation and restoration in Indonesia. We explore lives above ground (people and plants) and below ground (microbes, plants and the dynamic peat itself) and identify the following four themes that cut across the individual articles: 1) Livelihoods and land use; 2) Community engagement; 3) Bringing together multiple knowledges; and 4) Carbon; and draw out globally applicable lessons. We suggest that these themes highlight future directions for research which engage with the complexity of tropical peatland restoration in Indonesia, while centring the voices of local communities to support equity and sustainability in the transition to rewet peatlands.

Maximising the growth and productivity of commercial plantations is critical for meeting global demands for wood and paper products, without resorting to unsustainable harvesting of native forests or increasing the plantation estate at the expense of other primary production systems. In Australia, productivity of plantation eucalypts is often limited by low nutrient availability and maintaining high growth rates is dependent on external nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs. Therefore, an important management tool for maximising productivity is optimising fertiliser use. To do this, an improved mechanistic understanding of the productivity response to nutrient supplementation is needed. Here, we used three large-scale fertiliser experiments in Eucalyptus nitens plantations in Tasmania, Australia, to test the effects of six levels of N fertiliser (0, 300, 450, 600, 1200 and 2200 kg/ha) and two levels of P fertiliser (0 and 200 kg/ha) on annual diameter increment and annual wood volume increment over a two-year period. We found that trees responded strongly to N application both at the individual tree level (diameter) and at the stand level (volume), but not until the second growing season post fertiliser application. The application of N fertiliser increased stand volume increment but not linearly, highlighting the existence of an optimal N application rate to maximise productivity, which was remarkably consistent between sites. Further, we found the relationship between N application rate and daily DBH growth followed a predictable seasonal pattern, indicating an influence of abiotic conditions on the response of tree growth to N application. In general, phosphorous application had no impact on growth at either the tree- or stand-level. These results show that applying mid-rotation N fertiliser can boost wood growth, and that amounts greater than those currently applied could be beneficial on many sites, if it is economically and environmentally feasible to do so.

Indonesia is committed to rewetting peatlands to reduce the risk of fires and to decrease national greenhouse gas emissions. The three main approaches currently being implemented for rewetting peatlands in Indonesia are: 1) installing dams in drainage canals -"canal blocking"; 2) filling in drainage canals -"backfilling"; and 3) drilling wells to access water to fight fires -"deep wells". Tumbang Nusa in Central Kalimantan was chosen in 2020 as a pilot village to trial fire management through rewetting, although some engineering and logistical questions remain. Peatland rewetting is a complex process, and it is essential to determine public support as well as the potential for communities to live and work with rewet peat landscapes. Community attitudes to rewetting and their involvement in the process are not well understood. This article reports on 20 interviews conducted with villagers in Tumbang Nusa about their perceptions of rewetting. It identifies that the general attitude to rewetting is positive, but there is confusion and a lack of involvement with regard to where deep wells have been drilled and where canal blocks are located, as well as how they work and can be used. Villagers are concerned about their livelihoods and the impacts of fire. To support communities where rewetting will occur, careful management of the physical processes is needed, but even more important is the need for greater involvement of local communities in actively developing possibilities for their own futures on rewet peat.

Plantation forestry on sandy, nutrient poor soils has been developed over the last few decades in seasonally dry tropical monsoon environments. Despite the known benefits of harvest residue conservation between rotations in temperate climes, there are very few studies around the world on Eucalyptus harvest residue management in tropical areas. In Northern Australia on Melville Island 30,000-hectares of Acacia mangium is planned to be converted to Eucalyptus pellita. E. pellita harvest residues comprise high loads of stringy bark, leaves and twigs, posing a fire risk throughout the annual 6-to-8-month dry season in Australia's monsoonal tropics. In this environment, quantifying and demonstrating the anticipated benefits of residue retention is important for determining appropriate responses to fire risk.A 4-hectare experimental trial of 12-year-old E. pellita was cut with trees moved intact to the coupe edge and processed for woodchips. The tree residues from the roadside chipper were pushed back over the site. A total of 35 Mg ha−1 of harvest residue was left on the site, mainly comprised of bark (24.5 Mg ha−1 or 60 % of the total residue mass). Although the leaf and branch residues contained higher concentrations of N, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn than bark, stem and woodchips, bark N (51.5 kg ha−1) was twice foliage N (26.9 kg ha−1), and contributed to more than 50 % of residue N.Harvest residue bark, leaves and twigs were sampled for a litterbag decomposition study of mass loss on the harvested site. After 10 months about 80 % of bark original weight remained on site (20 % mass loss), compared to about 55 % of the leaves/twigs remaining (45 % mass loss).The potential non-CO2 emissions from the burning of E. pellita harvest residues were estimated at 12.3 Mg CO2-eq ha−1 or 3.35 Mg C ha−1, with the majority of emission arising from the smoldering of bark residues. This study discusses the implications of either retaining or burning harvest residues – for plantation long-term sustainability on sandy tropical sites, and for greenhouse gas emissions.

Large amounts of nitrogen (N) fertiliser are often applied to commercial plantations in southern Australia to obtain high growth rates. The growth response to fertiliser can be realised through increased foliar N and hence improved leaf-level photosynthetic capacity, or through increased leaf area production, which in turn increases light capture and hence canopy-level photosynthesis. While extra leaf area is beneficial to a tree in this regard, extra leaves may also incur costs in terms of both carbon (C) and water. Since canopy water use scales with total leaf area, greater leaf area could cause stomatal closure in times of water shortage, reducing the C assimilation rate. Here, we used three factorial N × phosphorus fertiliser experiments in Eucalyptus nitens plantations across Tasmania, Australia, to assess the effects of 12 fertiliser treatments on C- and water-related gas exchange, foliar N and trunk shrinkage. As prior research in this system has demonstrated an increase in leaf area in response to high N, we investigated the potential physiological costs and benefits of this extra leaf area. N application appeared to have consequences for plant water use, as evidenced by greater trunk shrinkage and lower stomatal conductance. However, this varied by site and year, indicating that the response is dependent on environmental conditions. These results highlight the importance of considering site conditions when prescribing fertiliser application regimes because adding large amounts of N could have unintended consequences for growth due to increased leaf area and hence potential water use, especially in dry conditions.

The pulp and paper industry in Sumatra, Indonesia, completely changed its key plantation forest species during 2012–2017 from their previous mainstay, Acacia mangium (which had become severely damaged by diseases) to Eucalyptus pellita and related hybrids. This rapid wholesale change posed major challenges to management and ongoing wood production. We present here long-term experimental results and operational pre-harvest inventory of the two species covering five successive rotations, spanning three decades. This is the first such report of long-term, multi-rotation productivity trends for plantations from a tropical equatorial environment. Highlights include: (i) the trends in productivity in the experiments and inventory are parallel and were characterised by an initial increase, followed by a decrease and then recovery of productivity in response to ecosystem stress, species change and management interventions, (ii) the growth rates of E. pellita are significantly lower than those of A. mangium across soils and sites (iii) the conservation of site organic matter during the inter-rotation phase is as critical for eucalypt as it was for acacia, (iv) the response to applied P is more widespread and stronger in E. pellita than in A. mangium, and (v) significant production losses are occurring due to high tree mortality. We also highlight some of the emerging issues warranting attention. Productivity varies widely across sites, so does the relative responses to management inputs in this environment. The reasons for this need to be better understood so that site-specific management practices can be applied. For example, the depth at which an impeding horizon occurs in some soil profiles is a strong factor influencing growth, regardless of species. The legacy effects of A. mangium, especially of fixed N and nutrient cycling are benefitting eucalypts. The adoption of research outcomes by managers have enabled gains of 8–19% in the productivity of eucalypts planted in recent years compared to that obtained in the first eucalypt rotation. Further improvements are possible through adaptive management, guided by both experimental results and inventory, aimed at gains in operationally realisable productivity. The companies are committed to using only plantation grown wood for processing and are not expanding their own land base allocated for production. The imperative, therefore, is to focus on sustainably increasing the productivity per unit area on their existing land management units that are now under the fifth or sixth rotation.

Acacia plantations are a significant forestry resource in Viet Nam, with the majority of the area under smallholder ownership, typically with 1–5 ha per household. Currently most acacias are grown in short rotations and sold for export as woodchips. Short rotation plantations suit smallholder farmers as they can receive a return relatively quickly (within 4–5 years). However the country has a high reliance on imports of sawlogs, some of which could be substituted by growing acacias to sawlog size on longer (5–10 year) rotations. Thus the Vietnamese government has developed a strategy to encourage smallholder acacia farmers to convert to sawlog production from their acacia estate. Sawlog production could potentially give greater returns to growers but also requires enhanced silvicultural management, greater tolerance of risk and longer times for return on investment. We explored smallholder farmers' preferences for support programs if they are to adopt longer rotation plantations in two contrasting provinces: Thua Thien Hue in Central Viet Nam and Hoa Binh in North Viet Nam. We found that farmers are happy to embrace longer rotations if they could source finance, are able to handle larger sized logs and if they could see others also growing longer rotations. We also explored the effects of contrasting training styles on adoption of best management practices (BMPs) – either standard top-down extension training, or a more collaborative active-learning extension training approach. We found that a collaborative, active-learning approach led to greater adoption of BMPs, but also that the traditional approach to extension was almost as effective. There is significant demand amongst the growers to improve their silvicultural management, and they are very responsive to training and knowledge circulation amongst the community. Factors influencing farmers' adoption of acacia BMPs were also identified and they included intrinsic factors (such as farmers' goals and inspirations), extrinsic factors (such as farm location and satisfaction with acacias) as well as extension. Extrinsic factors (21.5%), intrinsic factors (7.0%) and extension (5.5%) explained a total of 34% of the variation in adoption behaviour at 9 months following training. Farmers in the study demonstrated that they had the capacity, ability and willingness to uptake BMPs but to encourage greater adoption, extension training should be complemented with other support incentives such as seedlings or fertiliser subsidies to bridge the financial gap that some poorer farmers face. Extending acacia rotations to 7 years carries additional risks to farmers and many farmers would require financial assistance to facilitate acceptance of these risks.

Increasing tree planting on farms can provide a range of benefits. However, there are many barriers to increasing plantings on farms. To answer the research question of how natural capital accounting might be used to support farmers to increase trees on their farms, we spoke to 22 decision makers and stakeholders who are working to increase tree planting in different sectors. We also worked with farmers to plant over 200 ha of trees. The interview results show how tree planting programs can be supported to achieve longer-term, on-farm and social outcomes. The practical results highlight the importance of tailoring different strategies to different objectives. We find that natural capital accounting is a potential way to create partnerships across government and non-governmental organisations beyond the farm gate and to align individual and national scale objectives. Increasing trees on farms is not just about farmers, all of society has a role to play. We also note the need to raise public awareness of the different flow-on benefits of increasing natural capital on farms.

This paper reviews current knowledge of Eucalyptus pellita plantations to identify management practices for optimizing productivity and maintaining sustainability in the equatorial and tropical environments where it is grown. A combination of genetic improvement and silvicultural practices have markedly improved E. pellita productivity in recent decades. The productivity of E. pellita plantations around the world ranges from 9.4 to 34.9 m3/ha/year, with a tendency to be more productive in regions that receive higher annual rainfall. Because responses vary on water-limited sites, site-specific management practices such as the planting of superior hybrids and clones, and stocking management, are important for optimizing E. pellita growth. We identified several research gaps in understanding the impact of E. pellita harvest residue management on tree growth, benefits of intercropping E. pellita with N-fixing species, the capability and required management of E. pellita coppices to develop new rotation, and E. pellita water use and water requirements. The uncertain taxonomic status of E. pellita is also noted - with the possibility that E. biterranea is a separate species in the more continuously warm and wet equatorial far northern Queensland and Papua/Papua New Guinea geographic range of E. pellita. This may have implications for the continuous development of genetic material for the range of environments currently planted with E. pellita - and for understanding the potential impacts of climate change on productivity, and pest and disease resistance.