LOCAL VOICES CALL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OVER FOREST CONSERVATION: TRADE-OFFS AND POLICY IN BUNGO, SUMATRA LAURÈNE FEINTRENIE AND PATRICE LEVANG CIFOR-IRD ABSTRACT Local communities, especially those living in forested areas, are generally presented as innocent victims of global economic policies that benefit the private and public sectors. This paper discusses local stakeholders’ perception of the government policies and actions, people’s rights, and people’s participation in decision-making, with a focus on land and forest uses. It is based on a perception survey conducted in 2009 in 12 villages of the Bungo district, (Jambi province, Sumatra, Indonesia), and semi-directed interviews of representatives of the regional government. The surveys conclude to a good agreement between local people and the different levels of government. Besides, villagers consider that their voice is well taken into account in decision-making processes. And over all, there is a broad consensus among all stakeholders to favour economic development at the expense of forest conservation. Key words: Rubber agroforest, oil palm development, agrarian transition, agricultural intensification, regional autonomy, conservation and development trade-offs, Indonesia. 1. INTRODUCTION The integration of the least developed countries into the world economy has been part of the neo-liberal agenda for decades, based on the Ricardian theory of regional comparative advantages (Ricardo, 1821). The development of exportation from Southern poorer to Northern richer countries was supposed to end in an equitable global market. The main commercial flows are represented by raw material extracted or produced in the South and consumed in the North, with a return flow of added value manufactured products and services (Giljum and Eisenmenger 2004). Following this strategy, Indonesia has to some extent based the development of its national economy on exportations, promoting the development of mining, logging, and export cash crops (Barlow and Drabble 1990, Casson 2002, Keesler et al. 2007, McCarthy 2007). The international community is increasingly concerned by the conservation of the environment and the sustainable management of natural resources. But Corresponding author: CIFOR, PO Box 0113 BOCBD, 16000 Bogor, Indonesia, phone: +622518622622; Fax: +622518622100, l.feintrenie@cgiar.org Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 2011, Vol. 20, pp. 35–49 © 2011 A B Academic Publishers—Printed in Great Britain