Similarly to other Southeast Asian countries, the majority of plantation forests have been established under corporate concession arrangements (Phimmavong et al. 2009). The dominance of the concession model for tree plantation development has been based on three assumptions. First, it was expected to make underutilised land more productive. Second, it supported the government’s goal of eliminating shifting cultivation. Finally, concessions should bring foreign investment that would help to develop the land (by providing infrastructure, jobs and stimulating the local economy) and provide the government with revenues to develop other regions (Hanssen 2007) . As stated in Fox et al. (2009), ‘modern’ concessions have been theorised as effective ways of solving the swidden agriculture ´problem´, to modernise the country and to integrate ´backward´ swidden farmers into the nation (Fox et al. 2009). According to a relatively recent inventory on land concessions (Schönweger et al, 2012), 306,234 ha have been allocated for tree plantations under concession or lease agreements (see table 1 below).