Economic consequences of sustainable forest management regimes at non-industrial forest owner level in Norway

Consequences for net present value, net income and harvest related to ‘sustainable forest management regimes’ at non-industrial forest owner level in Norway are discussed. The following indicators of a sustainable forest management have been analysed: existing old forest set aside for preservation, maintaining minimum target levels for area covered by old forest through time, restricted treatments for border zone areas around water bodies, retention of trees at final harvest and restricted options with respect to regeneration. The consequences were analysed according to individual as well as co-operative management for eight different properties. GAYA-JLP, a large scale forestry scenario model applying simulations and linear programming, was used for the calculations. A regime with a ‘medium’ intensity of the environmentally oriented constraints, and a real rate of discount of 2.5%, reduced the net present values by 8% to 20%. The results indicated that the consequences for individual properties might vary considerably if the regimes for a sustainable forestry are designed generally without considering the heterogeneity among the properties with respect to the initial forest state. Assuming co-operative management, the net present value of the entire forest area (all properties) increased. At the same time it was possible to increase, respectively, the proportion of old forest set aside for preservation and the area covered by old forest through time. The differences compared with individual management were relatively small for all these parameters, and most likely not large enough to cover up for the transaction costs related to co-operative management. Whether the gains of co-operation will exceed transaction costs, can probably only be answered through cost-benefit analyses of the actual project.     

A spatial decision support system for long‐term forest management planning by means of linear programming and a geographical information system

The increased concern for environmental values increases the complexity of long‐term forest management planning. Environmental issues have to be dealt with over space and time. By creating links between existing aspatial long‐term forest management models and geographical information systems (GIS), environmental issues can be treated within the forest management planning process. In this article, a spatial decision support system (SDSS) developed by incorporating a forest management planning model into a GIS is presented. A case study is employed to illustrate the usefulness of the SDSS using real data. In order to preserve the water bodies in a forest area, the allowable treatments in areas falling within certain distances of lakes, streams, and swamps were restricted. Treatment schedules were simulated for all stands, and linear programming was utilized to maximize the net present value (NPV) subject to a non‐declining felling path. The NPV was reduced by 6.9% due to the treatment restrictions, and the annual harvest flow was reduced by about 10%. Various thematic maps of future time periods may be produced for subjective evaluation of the results.     

An Assessment of Forest Policy Changes in Western Washington

Abstract

Changing forest policies in both riparian and upland areas to help protect threatened and endangered species have contributed to the reduction of timber harvests in western Washington. The economic, biodiversity, and environmental impacts of these policy actions have been substantial. Policy simulations across 9.4 million acres of timber-land show that relative to proactive management strategies, current habitat conservation and environmental programs (largely based on a reservation strategy) result in net present value reductions to forestland owners of $9.9 billion. Accompanying these asset value reductions are employment losses (sustained) of 30% and tax receipt losses of 26%. The policy simulations further demonstrate that proactive management will not decrease the long-term percentage of the upland landscape occupied by functionally old forests relative to the reservation strategy. In the riparian area, adoption of a reservation strategy actually decreases (by 29%) the percent of the landscape occupied by functionally old forests relative to a proactive management approach. These results illustrate the importance of proactively managing western Washington forests to provide maximum functionally old forest habitat for endangered upland animals (such as the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet) as well as riparian species.     

Spatial optimization by simulated annealing and linear programming

Forest management planning comprises selection among treatment alternatives in management units. A traditional linear programming (LP) approach may effectively account for a profit maximization objective combined with sustainability constraints, e.g. on the temporal distribution of harvest volume flows, cash‐flow, and net present value development, but it fails to account for spatial constraints, especially those associated with final felling. By applying a simulated annealing adjacency model based on net present value maximization and combined with an LP consequence computation model, it is possible to delineate optimal strategies of final felling scheduling. Evaluation is made of the trade‐off between (1) the incremental cost (determined by use of the LP model) of an optimal adjacency model solution, and (2) the potential damage cost resulting from adjacency characteristics such as windthrow and bark injuries. The decision support system may contribute significantly to reduce damage costs and may improve the reliability of forest management planning.     

Multiple use forestry and preservation of coniferous forests in Norway

The concepts of Multiple‐use forestry and preservation of “virgin”; coniferous forests are elements of an ongoing debate in Norway, regarding aesthetical and biological consequences of current forest management practices. A study, based on the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), was performed during the fall of 1990. Data were collected through in‐person interviews of 1204 persons above 15 years of age.

The main objectives of the study were to analyze: 1) Attitudes toward the present state of Norwegian forests, 2) Attitudes toward and maximum willingness to pay for changes in current forest management, 3) Preferences and maximum willingness to pay for preservation of “virgin”; coniferous forests, and 4) Attitudes toward society's right to impose restrictions on forest management on private forest land.

Based on responses to statements related to the forest area people usually visit, the study showed a low degree of conflict regarding the present state of Norwegian forests. A ranking of possible results of two alternative forest management strategies, i.e. 1) a more cautious forest management or 2) preservation of “virgin”; coniferous forests, gave the highest average scores to “Preservation of endangered plants and animals”; and “Preservation of “virgin”; forests for our descendants”;, both related to the second management strategy. The maximum willingness to pay for a more cautious forest management was 277 Norwegian kroner (NOK) per household and year, with a median value of NOK 50. 47% of the sample preferred the preservation alternative A specified by the governmental committee, Barskogutvalget, while 18% preferred alternative B and 9% preferred alternative C, corresponding to the governmental decision. 15% preferred a 0‐alternative, i.e. no further preservation of “virgin”; coniferous forests. Two possible sources of bias, related to the CVM, were tested.     

How does forest certification contribute to boreal biodiversity conservation? Standards and outcomes in Sweden and NW Russia

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is one of the leading forest certification schemes. While many studies concern political aspects and social outcomes of FSC, little is known about the contribution of certification to biodiversity conservation. In Europe, the Russian Federation and Sweden have the largest areas of FSC-certified forest. We assessed the potential of FSC certification for boreal biodiversity conservation in terms of standard content, and outcomes as habitat area set aside and habitat network functionality. First, we compared the biodiversity conservation indicators at different spatial scales in Swedish and Russian FSC standards. Second, focusing on one large state forest management unit in each country, we compared the areas of formally and voluntarily set aside forests for biodiversity conservation. Third, we evaluated the structural habitat connectivity by applying morphological spatial pattern analysis, and potential functional connectivity by using habitat suitability index modelling for virtual species. The Russian standard included indicators for all spatial scales of biodiversity conservation, from tree and stand to landscape and ecoregions. The Swedish standard focused mainly on stand and tree scales. The area of voluntary set-asides for FSC was similar in Sweden and Russia, while formal protection in the Russian case study was three times higher than in the Swedish one. Swedish set-aside core areas were two orders of magnitude smaller, had much lower structural and potential functional connectivity and were located in a fragmented forestland holding. We conclude that to understand the potential of FSC certification for biodiversity conservation both the standard content, and its implementation on the ground, need to be assessed. We discuss the potential of FSC certification for biodiversity conservation with different levels of ambition. We stress the need for developing rapid assessment tools to evaluate outcomes of FSC for biodiversity conservation on the ground, which could be used by forest managers and FSC-auditors toward adaptive governance and management.     

黑荆树工业原料林定向培育经济效益评价

应用动态经济效益评价方法对黑荆树短周期工业原料林项目经济效益进行了评价，该项目的净现值（NPV）为16146．95元／hm^2。净现值率（NPVR）0．74，效益成本率（B／C）为1．90，结果表明，从经济效益方面考虑栽培以生产栲胶原料（树皮）和木炭、活性炭原料（树杆）为经营目标的黑荆树短周期工业原料林项目经济效益可观，具有可行性。     

Integrating bilberry yields into regional long-term forest scenario analyses

In many areas, picking wild berries constitutes an important forest commodity offering food, recreational services, and revenues. Intensified forest management has negatively affected bilberry yields. In this study, regional-level scenario analyses were conducted to investigate the effects of four approaches to the inclusion of bilberry yields on the economics, management, and resulting forest structures in North Karelia. The current approach ignoring bilberries resulted in decreasing bilberry yields and increasing younger forests. When bilberries were valued at market price (1.72?€?kg^?1), bilberry yields still decreased despite the fact that forest management were slightly modified to favour bilberry. Adding non-declining sustainability constraints to bilberry yields resulted in a slightly lower total net present value of timber and bilberry since forest management favoured longer rotation lengths, which increased bilberry yields. Similar effects occurred when the bilberry price was tripled to include the implicit ecosystem benefits of bilberries. When forests were managed only for bilberries (timber zero-priced), bilberry yields started to increase immediately resulting in 1.5-fold difference in 50 years as compared to timber only scenario. In conclusion, managing forests for both timber and bilberry production has rather minor effects on economics, but it can have clear positive effect on bilberry yields.     

Enhancing the value of multiple use plantations: a case study from southeast Queensland, Australia

In the 1990s, an expansion of small-scale (farm) forestry in medium to low rainfall areas was considered to be an important part of increasing the national forest estate but it remains a very minor source of timber, largely confined to the higher rainfall areas. In most areas, returns from timber are much less than for alternative land uses, even with low discount rates. If however, there are additional returns from plantation grazing and carbon sequestration and there are other potential management gains, multiple use plantations may be more attractive. The goal of this study is to estimate the net present values of multiple use spotted gum plantations in a medium rainfall area of southeast Queensland. For the case study, production, carbon sequestration and emissions data were supplemented by formal and informal interviews with landholders, sawmill staff and government extension personnel. Forest inventory, biomass and soil sampling, and stakeholder interviews were used as sources of primary data. The costs and benefits data were converted into monetary terms and discounted to produce net present values. Evaluations in this study identify the optimal rotation age of plantations to be 33–34?years. This is the case if including carbon and stock values, and using either farm- or factory-gate timber prices. The net present value increases significantly however if farmers harvest the trees themselves. In addition, at harvesting age, it was found that carbon and stock had the potential to account for 19.2 and 11.4?% respectively of the total returns from spotted gum plantations. Policy initiatives to support the farm forestry sub-sector should include pricing greenhouse gas emissions and developing and strengthening farmers co-operatives and marketing institutions to enhance farmers’ bargaining power.     

Temporal mapping of deforestation and forest degradation in Nepal: Applications to forest conservation

Deforestation and forest degradation are associated and progressive processes resulting in the conversion of forest area into a mosaic of mature forest fragments, pasture, and degraded habitat. Monitoring of forest landscape spatial structures has been recommended to detect degenerative trends in forest conditions. GIS and remote sensing play an important role in the generation of such data to identify degraded and deforested areas as well as potential areas for conservation. In this study we analyzed forest degradation and deforestation trends in Chitwan district in Nepal, which contains key habitat elements for wildlife in the region. An artificial neural network was used to predict forest canopy density in five classes using Landsat images of the year 2001. Forest canopy density was predicted with 82% overall accuracy. Except riverine forest, forest area of all other forest types was reduced. Terai Shorea robusta forest, which has high commercial value, showed a loss of 23% between 1976 and 1989 and an overall loss of 15% forest covers between the year 1976 and 2001. Deforestation and forest degradation disproportionately reduced the sizes of the different forest types, a finding that has important management implications. The maps presented in this article could be useful to prioritize limited resources for conservation.     

Optimizing any-aged management of mixed boreal forest under residual basal area constraints

The current trend of forest management in many countries is reduced use of clear-felling and planting, and increased use of continuous cover management. In Finland, the new forest act of 2014 made all types of cuttings equally allowable on the condition that if the post-cutting residual stand basal area is too low, the stand must be regenerated within certain time frame. Forest landowner can freely choose between evenand uneven-aged management. This study developed a method for optimizing the timing and type of cuttings without the need to categorize the management system as either even-aged or uneven-aged. A management system that does not set any requirements on the sequence of post-cutting diameter distributions is called any-aged management. Planting or sowing was used when stand basal area fell below the required minimum basal area and the amount of advance regeneration was less than required in the regulations. When the cuttings of 200 stands managed earlier with even-aged silviculture were optimized with the developed system, final felling followed by artificial regeneration was selected for almost 50% of stands. Reduction of the minimum basal area limit greatly decreased the use of artificial regeneration but improved profitability, suggesting that the truly optimal management would be to use natural regeneration in financially mature stands. The optimal type of thinning was high thinning in 97–99 % of cases. It was calculated that the minimum basal area requirement reduced the mean net present value of the stands by 12–16 % when discount rate was 3–5 %.     

How financial compensation changes forest owners' willingness to set aside productive forest areas for nature conservation in Denmark

Abstract

Agri-environmental schemes' ability to increase the provision of environmental goods has been questioned because such schemes may pay landowners for something they would have done anyway. Contributing to this discussion, the aim of this paper is to investigate how financial compensation changes forest owners' declared willingness to set aside productive forest areas for nature conservation. The study is based on a survey of forest owner attitudes and ownership objectives in Denmark. First, it was analyzed how forest owners' declared willingness to set aside productive forest area for nature conservation changed when they were offered financial compensation. The majority of forest owners (64%) increased their willingness to set aside forest when offered financial compensation, whereas for others, compensation resulted in no change or, for a few respondents, even decreased the willingness. Hence, financial compensation may help to increase the provision of environmental goods but it is necessary to be aware of groups not motivated by financial incentives. Secondly, a binary logit model showed that the greatest likelihood of financial compensation increasing the motivation for setting aside forest is observed for owners who are young, female, live in the western part of Denmark and own farmland. Policy makers can use such information to target subsidy schemes at particular groups.     

华北低丘山地人工混交林净生态系统碳交换的变化特征

采用涡度相关技术对华北低丘山地30年生栓皮栎-刺槐-侧柏人工混交林生态系统进行连续2年的碳通量观测。结果表明:人工混交林净生态系统碳交换(NEE)的年际和季节变化都很明显,但日变化只在生长季(4—10月)才变得显著。2006和2007年人工混交林NEE的变化范围分别在-27.1～8.1和-24.4～9.8gCO2·m-2d-1,最大月平均CO2吸收量分别出现在5月和7月。生长季净碳吸收约占全年的96%。人工混交林是较强的碳汇,2006和2007年净碳吸收量分别为549.1和445.4gC·m-2a-1。春季干旱是2007年人工混交林净碳吸收显著下降的主要原因。     

Comparing multipurpose forest management with timber management,incorporating timber,carbon and oxygen values: A case study

Abstract

This paper comparatively examines two forest management planning approaches: multipurpose forest management and traditional timber management, with carbon, timber and oxygen production objectives in mind. The effects of both approaches on carbon and oxygen values were estimated with an oxygen and carbon flow matrix, while timber production was modelled through a growth and yield model. The estimated values were simultaneously integrated into a linear programming model developed for this study. The objective was to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the profits of timber, oxygen and carbon under the constraints of an even flow of timber production and ending forest inventory for each planning approach. The results showed that the ecological and environmental regulations in multipurpose management substantially decreased the NPV of timber production even though they increased the NPV of carbon and oxygen flow. The results also indicated that over a 100 year planning horizon the total NPV of all forest ecosystem values including carbon, timber and oxygen is almost the same (only 1.9% reduction in multipurpose management approach) in both management approaches. Although multipurpose management creates more NPV of carbon and oxygen than timber management does, the latter provides better results in terms of timber production. It is therefore important to take into account the NPV of all apparent and quantifiable forest values in preparing forest management plans, particularly in developing new management planning approaches.     

Future development of the Leningrad region forests under nature-oriented forest management

Russian forests are of high importance for the Russian economy, the European wood market, for nature conservation, and for carbon sequestration. However, the ongoing changes in forest management and administration in Russia led to uncertainty about forest ownership, wood harvesting levels, and long-term impacts of alternative management plans. Therefore, better insight in their current and future state is highly desirable. We present a study for the Leningrad region forests in which alternative management regimes for wood production and nature conservation values are balanced in varying ways. The total forest land area in the Leningrad region forest fund is 4.8 million ha. Coniferous species dominate and due to the natural succession occurring, the forests are divers in vertical structurally.

A timber assessment model was used to project the forest until 2040. Five forest management scenarios were run. Special attention was paid to a scenario that simulates recovery of the Russian forest sector in combination with the incorporation of a ‘set-aside for nature conservation’ policy. All scenarios showed that recovery of the forest sector in the Leningrad region is biologically feasible. A sustainable continuous annual production of 10.6 million m³ per year (2.8 m³ ha⁻¹ per year) by 2040 was found. The ‘Recovery with Nature Conservation’ scenario showed that recovery of the forest sector in combination with the establishment of set-aside areas is very well feasible. It was possible to set aside 28% of the forest area for nature conservation while still developing a forest sector to a production level higher than that achieved in the late eighties.

The timber assessment model applied was not specifically designed to incorporate nature-oriented forest management. We, therefore, discuss ways of improving the required methodology to analyse long-term effects of nature-oriented forest management in Europe.     

Valuation of forest carbon sinks in China within the framework of the system of national accounts

To better promote forest resource management and strengthen the development of forest carbon sink marketization, this paper studied the accounting of forest carbon sinks from 2003 to 2008 based on a system of national accounts(SNA) and data from the latest forest resources inventory in China. The study calculated the value of forest carbon stocks at a total of RMB817.13 × 10~9 yuan in 2003 and RMB 839.93× 109 yuan in 2008, with an average annual increase of 0.55 % from an increase in physical carbon sinks. The total value of forest carbon sinks in 2003 and 2008 was RMB 26.73 × 10~9 yuan and RMB 29.77 × 10~9 yuan, respectively, with an average annual growth of 2.18 %. From 2003 to 2008, both stock and flow value of forest carbon sinks increased, but the total net flow value of carbon sinks decreased. The growth rate for the environmentally adjusted Gross Domestic Product(ea GDP) for China's forest carbon sinks was 17.23 %, outstripping the average growth rate of 9.5 % for the GDP during the same period. The study also indicates that China's forest carbon sinks affects the GDP in the range of 0.25–0.26 %, and its economic potential is not relatively huge.     

Impacts of different forest management scenarios on forestry and reindeer husbandry

In northern Sweden, the forests are used simultaneously for both timber production and reindeer husbandry. During the winter months, lichen is the most important fodder for reindeer. Forest management operations are generally considered having a negative impact on reindeer husbandry as harvesting and dense stands remove or obscure the ground lichen cover. In this study, we simulate three different scenarios for forest management, differing in the intensity and types of harvest operations. The resulting 100-year scenarios are analyzed with respect to their estimated suitability for providing reindeer pasture areas. Suitability is determined by vegetation type, stand density and stand height. The results indicate that the current trend of a decrease in lichen area will continue if existing forestry practice prevails. Implementing continuous cover forestry as a management alternative and carrying out precommercial thinning could halt the decrease in reindeer pasture area and even lead to a future increase in pasture area, with losses of approximately 5% in the net present value of forestry.     

Potential use of a spatially constrained harvest scheduling model for biodiversity concerns: Exclusion periods to create heterogeneity in forest structure

The objective of this paper is to investigate potential use of a spatially constrained harvest scheduling model for biodiversity concerns. Change in the degree of biodiversity is represented only by spatial characteristics of harvesting patterns of forest stands with different exclusion periods applied to adjacent forest stands. A spatially constrained harvest scheduling model called SSMART (Scheduling System of Management Alternatives foR Timber-harvest) is used for the analysis. It is one of the heuristics to solve a spatially constrained harvest scheduling problem by using the partitioning heuristic. The algorithm incorporated into SSMART is designed to seek a solution for a multicriteria problem with present net value maximum, meeting spatial feasibility and minimizing period-to-period harvest flow fluctuation, approximating even-flow constraints within the 0–1 integer programming framework. Our experimental analysis shows that the longer exclusion period, the less the harvest flow level and the total present net value are derived and the more heterogeneous the forest structure becomes in terms of the forest stand age distribution. It is also shown that the three exclusion period results in a stable forest stand age distribution over the time horizon for our experimental forest. This research supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 09041071) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan.     

Management tools for optimal allocation of wood fibre to conventional log and bio-energy markets in Ireland: a case study

A set of tools are described for optimal allocation of wood fibre at an operational planning level. These were applied to a case study in Ireland. Allocation was based on optimising net value recovery (delivered price minus harvesting and transportation costs) while meeting market demands and operational constraints (mainly crew capability and productivity limits). Two new models were developed to predict harvesting costs and transportation costs for Irish forest conditions. A new model was developed to link Sitka spruce biomass expansion factors to optimal log-making algorithms so that log and bio-energy product yields could be estimated for individual harvest areas. An existing operational allocation model based on a tabu search heuristic procedure was used. The case study included 16 forest harvest areas and 12 processing plants (saw logs, pallet logs, stakes, pulp, bio-energy slash bundles, etc.). New terrestrial lidar scanning procedures were used to obtain representative stem profiles from over 4,000 trees for the 16 forests. We demonstrated that optimal allocation of bio-energy and log products, while complex, can be achieved through the use of appropriate management tools.