From Farmers to Loggers: The Role of Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in Timber Production in Cameroon

This article focuses on timber sourced from the agricultural areas in the shifting cultivation landscapes of the Central Region of Cameroon. Data about volumes marketed in urban centres, harvesting operations and on-farm timber management are used to discuss the ecological impact of small-scale logging and its sustainability in the long term. An opportunistic association exists between small-scale logging and agricultural land uses, determined mostly by the abundance of valuable species in fallows and on cocoa farms, their easy accessibility and the low price of farmland timber. Farmers apply various strategies to the management of tree resources in fallows and cocoa agroforests, with most felling authorized in fallows and most trees preserved on the cocoa farms. With current agricultural expansion and intensification trends associated with small-scale logging, timber resources on rural land are at risk of depletion with direct consequences for domestic timber supply and the thousands of livelihoods it sustains. Marketing and regulatory changes are needed to encourage the integration of timber production in agricultural management systems.     

Costs of protable sawmilling timbers from the acacia woodlands of western Queensland,Australia

Portable sawmilling trials with Acacia aneura (mulga) and A. cambagei (gidgee) have been undertaken to estimate the private landholder costs associated with small-scale timber production from woodlands in western Queensland, Australia. A time study of harvesting and milling operations facilitated estimation of landholder labour input requirements. The scarcity and small size of millable logs, coupled with the prevalence of timber defects, make harvesting and portable sawmilling of western Queensland acacias an expensive undertaking for landholders. The cost of producing sawn timber that meets the High Feature (HF) grade of Australian Standard AS2796 is estimated at between A$3,000/m³ and A$3,400/m³ of HF timber.     

Socioeconomic Conditions Affecting Smallholder Timber Management in Gunungkidul District,Yogyakarta Special Region,Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the largest teak timber producers in the world. The Javanese State Forest Company has been a major producer of teak timber in Indonesia; however, log production decreased drastically due to severe illegal logging after the collapse of Suharto regime. In contrast, small-scale private forests (PFs) owned by local farmers have expanded and are expected to be a new source of teak timber. Long rotation is a critical factor in producing a larger diameter log with a higher heartwood proportion. However, harvest timing in PFs is traditionally decided based on individual farmers’ needs even if trees are still young and of small diameter. Therefore, traditional harvesting is an obstacle to producing high-quality teak timber. The objectives of this study are to (1) identify the household economies and PF management styles of local farmers, (2) characterize the local farmers who conduct traditional harvesting, and (3) suggest key considerations for PF policymaking. Key informant interviews and semi-structured interviews with local farmers were conducted in three villages in Gunungkidul district, Yogyakarta Special Region. The study identified the household economies, the ownership and management structures, and the traditional harvesting in PFs in the three villages, and reaffirmed diversity and complexity of PFs. It appears that PF management is influenced by topographic and socioeconomic conditions and differs widely across villages. Therefore, it is important to consider the diversity and complexity of PFs in PF policymaking.     

Productivity of single-grip harvesters in clear-cutting operations in the northern European part of Russia

A field-based study was carried out to broaden our knowledge of fully mechanized cut-to-length harvesting productivity in naturally grown forests in the northern European part of Russia (NEPR). The recorded data comprised 38 midsized single-grip harvesters (JD 1270D) in clear-cutting operations in the Karelia, Komi, Vologda, Leningrad, Tver, and Kirov regions in NEPR, 4.3 million felled trees, and 1.4 million m³ u.b. (under bark) of processed timber. Harvesting operations were conducted in forest stands composed of spruce (48% on average), pine (19%), birch (22%), and aspen (11%), with an average stem volume 0.31 m³ u.b. The cut-to-length harvesters produced from 4.3 to 14.9 m³ u.b./productive machine hour (PMH) and 16.0–49.5 m³ u.b./stem processing machine hour (S _proc MH). A machine evaluation analysis and a regression analysis were used to formulate models for predicting cutting productivity of modern single-grip harvester. The regression models were developed to estimate the productivity of the harvesters in the regions taking into account two significant factors influencing the productivity: the stem volume and tree species of the felled trees. Productivity/cubic meter u.b. of processed timber/PMH was calculated according to stem volume and tree species distributions in most forest-covered NEPR regions. Further research is suggested to improve the developed productivity models and to allow prediction of system performance over a broad range of stand and site conditions.     

Estimating biomass and macronutrient content of some commercially important plantation species in South Africa

The removal of biomass, in any combination of stemwood, bark or branch harvesting, can cause a significant increase in nutrient loss from commercial timber plantations. Ensuring long-term site productivity of forest plantations is a key issue for forestry management. Managers need to secure a continued supply of tree biomass components, while understanding the impact of various harvesting operations on plantation nutrient reserves. It is imperative to quantify the biomass and nutrient stocks and their removal during silvicultural operations, such as harvesting, burning and various forms of site preparation. At present, there are no simple methods to estimate inherent site nutrient reserves, or nutrient gains through processes such as atmospheric deposition or rock weathering, or the quantities of nutrients lost through silvicultural operations (harvesting, burning and site preparation). The aim of this work was to construct simple multipliers that can be used in conjunction with plantation timber volumes to estimate stem, branch and bark biomass and nutrient contents. The multipliers were developed from data existing for Eucalyptus spp., Pinus patula and Acacia mearnsii stands throughout the summer rainfall region of South Africa and Swaziland. Due to limited data unique nutrient multipliers were not developed for each productivity range and the multipliers were assumed to be consistent across all productivity ranges. The ratios may underestimate on fertile sites where luxury consumption of nutrients may occur and not accurately predict where stand management practices have altered wood density, allometry or canopy architecture. Although genus and species impacted on the quantity of nutrients held in the plantation biomass, productivity and harvesting intensity were the biggest driver of nutrient removal. Although the multipliers developed here have value in creating a general estimate of nutrient content they are from a limited dataset and need to be expanded upon across species, site and age ranges before being able to precisely estimate nutrient contents. Although harvesting is a major component of nutrient export, natural additions and losses of nutrients, and site nutrient reserves need to be known in order to gain a complete understanding of the impact of nutrient loss on site nutrient reserves.     

Environmentally sound timber extracting techniques for small tree harvesting

Forestcontractors,loggersandengineershavebeenpayingahighattentiontotimberextractionoperationssince1990's.Sincetimber-extractingoperationproducesthehighestproportionofoperationcosts,largestareadisturbedandmostresidualstandsdamagedamongalloperationsofsmalltreeharvesting,manytechniquesweredevelopedtomeettherequirementsoftimberextractioninsmalltreeharvesting.Animalskidding13Animalskidding,oneoftimberextractionmethods,usessomespecialdevicessuchassledgesandcarriagesasshowninFig.1toreducetheresistanc…     

Managing woodlands for income maximisation in western Queensland,Australia: clearing for grazing versus timber production

Queensland, Australia, has a proud pastoral history; however, the private and social benefits of continued woodland clearing for pasture development are unlikely to be as pronounced as they had been in the past. The environmental benefits of tree retention in arid regions of the State are now better appreciated and market opportunities have arisen for the unique timbers of western Queensland. A financial model is developed to facilitate a comparison of the private profitability of small-scale timber production from remnant Acacia woodlands against clearing for pasture development in the Mulga Lands and Desert Uplands bioregions of western Queensland. Four small-scale timber production scenarios, which differ in target markets and the extent of processing (value-adding), are explored within the model. Each scenario is examined for the cases where property rights to the timber are vested with the timber processor, and where royalties are payable. For both cases of resource ownership, at least one scenario generates positive returns from timber production, and exceeds the net farm income per hectare for an average grazing property in the study regions over the period 1989–1990 to 2000–2001. The net present value per hectare of selectively harvesting and processing high-value clearwood from remnant western Queensland woodlands is found to be greater than clearing for grazing.     

Simulation of harvester productivity in selective and boom-corridor thinning of young forests

Abstract

Forest management practices may change in the future, due to increases in the extraction of forest fuel in first thinnings. Simulation models can be used to aid in developing new harvesting systems. We used such an approach to assess the productivity of innovative systems in various thinnings of young stands with wide ranges of mean breast height diameter (1.5–15.6 cm), stems per hectare (1000–19,100), and mean height (2.3–14.6 m).

The results show that selective multiple-tree-handling increases productivity by 20–46% compared to single-tree-handling. If the trees are cut in boom-corridors (10×1 or 2 m strips between strip roads), productivity increases up to 41%, compared to selective multiple-tree-handling. Moreover, if the trees are felled using area-based felling systems, productivity increases by 33–199%, compared to selective multiple-tree-handling. For any given harvesting intensity, productivity increased the most in the densest stands with small trees.

The results were used to derive time consumption functions. Comparisons with time study results suggest that our simulation model successfully mimicked productivity in real-life forest operations, hence the model and derived functions should be useful for cost calculations and evaluating forest management scenarios in diverse stands.     

Productivity and cost analysis of semi-mechanised and mechanised systems on the Viphya forest plantations in Malawi

At least 200 000 m³ of timber is harvested annually using semi-mechanised harvesting systems on the Viphya forest plantations in Malawi. Although these systems have long been used on the Viphya, no investigation on their productivity has so far been reported. Additionally, the absence of localised productivity analyses in Malawi has created a paucity of information on appropriate timber harvesting systems for production maximisation and cost minimisation. The objective of this study was to compare the production rates and operational costs of chainsaw/grapple skidder (semi-mechanised) and feller-buncher/grapple skidder (mechanised) harvesting systems in order to determine the economic feasibility of mechanised systems in the Viphya forest plantations. The study was conducted in Pinus kesiya compartments at the Kalungulu and Champhoyo forest stations of the Viphya forest plantations. A work study approach was followed to capture harvesting time and volume data for the semi-mechanised system. Secondary work study data were used to simulate productivity of the mechanised system on similar compartment conditions. A timber-harvesting costing model was used to analyse the results. The study showed that the simulated mechanised system was associated with lower operating costs and inventories with higher production rates than the semi-mechanised system. The cost marginal difference was US$0.89 m^–3. It was therefore established that migration to mechanised systems could optimise timber harvesting productivity on the Viphya in future, if optimal volumes are available to ensure the efficient application of the mechanised harvesting system.     

Harvesting alternatives for mallee agroforestry plantations in Western Australia

The authors tested two harvesting systems especially designed for mallee agroforestry plantations on farmland. Both systems were based on versatile forest technology commonly used for conventional logging operations. They differed especially for the felling technology: small-scale drive-to-tree or industrial swing-to-tree equipment. Both systems were tested side-to-side on 12 experimental plots each. The resulting harvesting cost was 22 and 27 AU$ t^?1, for the industrial and the small scale system, respectively. Chipping represented between 60 and 80 % of the overall harvesting cost, and offered much room for improvement. The industrial system always offered the lowest harvesting cost, regardless of annual usage, when equipment mobilisation costs were not considered. The productivity of conventional forestry equipment was strongly dependent on belt stocking and tree size. If the diameter at ankle height dropped below 10 cm, economic viability decreased very rapidly.     

Portable sawmills in a high-value rainforest cabinet timber industry in North Queensland

This paper examines the role and use of portable sawmills in north Queensland. Using a semi-structured questionnaire and personal interviews, the opinions of 18 operators of portable and fixed-site sawmills were canvassed on a number of issues including main problems faced by the local industry, current sources of timber, sawn timber recovery rates of their operations, willingness to purchase new milling and other equipment, opinions about why (or if) portable sawmills can sell timber at a lower cost than fixed-site mills, and destinations of sawn timber milled. The most critical issues faced by sawmillers were the lack of resource security and competing products, in particular competition from imported tropical timbers from neighbouring island countries including Papua New Guinea. Most sawmillers in north Queensland currently obtain logs mainly from private landholdings and are hesitant to invest in new equipment due to concerns about future log supplies. This paper also explores the current and potential role of portable sawmills in the regional small-scale forestry industry. An examination of policy issues suggests that there may be a need for new legislation to cover employees, sawn timber consumers and sawmillers themselves. The future role of portable sawmills may require a co-operative approach that emphasizes low volume value-adding, due to the decreasing supply of logs in North Queensland. This paper is based on research undertaken for a Master of Commerce by the first author (Smorfitt 2000). All authors are members of the Rainforest CRC, which has provided financial support for the research reported here. The assistance of Mr I. Venables in providing comment on the questionnaire for portable sawmillers is gratefully acknowledged.     

A Comparison of Productivity in Five Small-Scale Harvesting Systems

The use of small-scale harvesting equipment continues to grow in forestry in many regions of the world. This equipment includes various devices and methods used to harvesting that generally are smaller, less expensive and less productive than advanced forestry machines. The objective of this study is to compare the efficiency of five alternative extraction methods implemented in a harvesting unit located in a mixed beech and oak forest ecosystem in northwestern Turkey. A continuous time study was conducted during primary transport operations that included skidding with animal power, skidding with farm tractor, hauling with farm tractor, hauling with forest tractor, and extraction by skyline. Timber was skidded uphill on a skid trail, and an average skidding distance of 100 m for all haulage methods was considered. Average slope of the harvesting unit ranged from 20 to 40 %. Average productivities for respective haulage methods were 3.80, 6.25, 2.80, 5.25 and 10.09 m³/h. Significant differences were found between productivity of haulage methods using one-way analysis of variance. The extraction by skyline, skidding with farm tractor, and hauling with forest tractor were determined to be the most statistically different methods, the productivity of these methods was found significantly higher than the other methods. Skid trails are useful for shortening distances during forest operations and skidding with farm tractor is a productive method in small-scale forestry of Turkey.     

Forest owner is more than her goal: a qualitative typology of Lithuanian owners

In contrast to quantitative surveys up to date, this study employs in-depth interviews and qualitative analyses aiming to provide detailed contextualized portrayals of private forest owners (PFOs) in Lithuania, where forest ownership underwent crucial changes in the last two decades. We scrutinized narrations of 18 owners, focusing on the background and goals of forest possession, actually applied management practices and informants' future plans. Content analysis of the narrations revealed three classes of goals: ideational rationale, i.e. immaterial justification for owning and managing forest, financial goals referring to monetary benefits from selling forest products and own material use for household needs. Reported practices differ widely among PFOs, ranging from largely absent management to intensive silvicultural regimes. Syntheses of each informant's goals and practices enabled discerning four types of PFOs. Forest Businessmen typically own largest estates (>100 ha) and regard forest as an investment to get long-term financial benefits; they resort to forest management for timber and often intend to enlarge their possessions. Household Foresters primarily use timber for own needs, regularly applying selective tree cutting; such forestry results in frequent but small-scale management interventions. Passive Forest Lovers aspire for recreational or environmental values, being largely uninterested in timber harvesting. Ad Hoc Owners usually are small scale, have vague goals and rarely engage in forest management. The study concludes with discussing policy implications of the identified diversity of PFOs.     

Effects of Mexican dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum subsp. vaginatum) on the growth of Pinus cooperi in Durango,Mexico—A case study

Mexican dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum subsp. vaginatum, Viscaceae) is the most widespread and damaging parasitic plant in Mexico. It parasitizes 10 species of pines (Pinus spp., Pinaceae) as principal hosts, including Pinus cooperi, one of the economically most important pines in the state of Durango. As a case study, we used stem analysis to estimate the effects of Mexican dwarf mistletoe on volume and height growth of dwarf mistletoe‐infected P. cooperi in western Durango (Ejido El Brillante, Municipality Pueblo Nuevo). This case study sampled a total of 48 trees, 12 in each of four infection classes estimated using the 6‐class dwarf mistletoe rating system (DMR): uninfected (DMR 0), lightly infected (DMR 1–2), moderately infected (DMR 3–4) and severely infected (DMR 5–6). Significant reductions in both volume and height growth were found for moderately and severely infected trees when compared to uninfected trees. On average, reductions in volume growth and height growth were as high as 50% and 17%, respectively. The largest growth reductions were for moderately infected trees, but large growth reductions also occurred for severely infected trees. Because of the reduced growth associated with moderate to severe infection, Mexican dwarf mistletoe‐infested pine forests in Durango, where timber production is a high priority, should be managed using harvesting practices that reduce dwarf mistletoe infection, and thereby, increase forest productivity.     

不同强度的择伐作业对保留木与幼树幼苗的影响

采用标准地的方式调查不同强度的择伐作业前后常绿阔叶林林分中保留木和幼树幼苗的变化.结果表明:保留木的损伤与采伐木的胸径及择伐强度有关.胸径越大则损伤率越大.择伐强度亦然.择伐作业后幼树的破坏与择伐强度间无明显的关系.这与作业的具体情况有关.择伐后与皆伐未整地经一段时间.林内幼苗数量都有所增加,尤以皆伐作业和弱度择伐为最.     

Development strategies for privately owned forestry in the mountainous region of Sweden

Forestry in Sweden as well as in other European countries is characterised by intense and increasing international competition resulting in decreasing roundwood prices in real terms. This is especially the situation in the mountainous region of Sweden with long transportation distances between the felling site and the processing industries located at the coast. The question arises whether forestry must be run more extensively than at present to achieve the optimal rate of silvicultural activities compared with the amount of timber cut. With this in mind, optimising economic analyses have been performed at the stand level as well as at the level of forest estates. Results of the analyses reveal that more intensive thinning (more frequent operations) and shorter rotation periods would increase profit and offset continuously decreasing roundwood prices. Intensive pre-commercial thinning (cleaning) is especially important for profitability of the subsequent thinnings and the final cut. The large number of cuts during the rotation will increase logging costs. However, this will be more than offset by the increasing production of economically matured dimensions of timber, an effect that will be still more pronounced when using new harvesting technology. Moreover, frequent high thinning operations (thinning ‘from above’ or removal of dominant trees) will result in more dense wood close to the pith, more evenly distributed year rings, and fewer and smaller knots in the lower part of the stem — in other words more valuable roundwood which will justify high transportation costs. Several biological and technical aspects of these treatment programs are discussed in the paper.     

Damage to Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) during selective timber harvesting in Northern Bolivia

The success of multiple forest management systems is contingent on a variety of social, economic, biophysical, and institutional factors, including the integration of timber and non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction and management. Selective logging for timber is increasingly taking place in forests where the collection of Brazil nuts, a high-value Amazonian NTFP, also occurs. We report on logging damage to Brazil nut trees in three certified timber concessions in Northern Bolivia from which timber is harvested using reduced-impact logging (RIL) guidelines and nuts are gathered yearly from the ground by local people. Observed frequencies of logging damage to Brazil nut trees were low, likely mirroring the low intensity of timber harvesting (∼0.5 trees/ha and ∼5 m³/ha) being currently applied across the study area. Of the trees ≥10 cm in diameter at breast height about 0.1 Brazil nut trees and 0.4 timber species per hectare suffered some degree of logging damage. Crown loss was the predominant damage type for Brazil nut trees accounting for 50% of all damage. In spite of the observed low rates of tree damage, we further recommend that RIL guidelines be amended to include the pre-harvest marking of pre-reproductive Brazil nut trees along with the future crop trees of commercial timber species. Further refining directional felling to reduce crown damage to Brazil nut trees would also serve to help maintain nut yields in the long term.     

Factors affecting forwarder productivity

Modern forwarders are an effective extraction option for timber harvesting operations that provide the opportunity for higher levels of mechanization. With their ability to carry logs from the forest to the roadside or processing areas, they have an established lower environmental impact in comparison to tree-length skidding options. However, little is published regarding their productivity potential or the factors that influence productivity. Three case studies were carried out; (1) a selective harvest in Calabria, Italy, with a smaller 12 t capacity John Deere 1110E, (2) a clear-cut on the West Coast of New Zealand, with a larger 19 t capacity John Deere 1910E and (3) a larger clear-cut operation in Canterbury, New Zealand, with two John Deere 1910E forwarders. An elemental time and motion study was used resulting in 73.4 h of detailed data, with 159 cycles extracting 2241 m³ of timber. Productivity models were created for all three sites as well as one combined model. Average cycle time was 33.2, 24.2 and 22.8 min, and average productivity 24.6, 37.1 and 42.7 t per productive machine hour, respectively. Cycle time was the fastest, and consequently productivity the highest, at the Canterbury site where the terrain roughness was low, overcoming any effect of the average small piece size (0.59 m³). Travel speed was slowest at the West Coast site showing the effect of wet and difficult terrain, with travel empty speed being just 3.8 km/h, compared to 6.7 and 6.9 km/h at the other two sites. Productivity at the two clear-cut operations was significantly higher than the selective cut, compounded by the use of the larger capacity forwarders. Distance and payload were significant factors for each cycle time model; in the combined model the sites were also significant. The calculated unit cost of forwarder extraction in the sites ranged from €2.55 to €4.70/m³. For regions such as southern Italy that have relatively low levels of forest mechanization, this information can be used to help design and improve more traditional labor-intensive harvesting systems.     

The economics of timber supply: Does it pay to reduce harvest levels?

Sustained yield policies designed to ensure an even annual flow of timber harvests remain the most common approach to forest management on public lands in Canada. Such policies have been criticized on the environmental grounds that timber production is emphasized at the expense of other values, and on the economic grounds that policy-makers try to maximize the harvests level without regard for economic optimality (measured by whether or not revenues cover variable costs of production). In a case study from Northern Ontario, we used a spatially explicit harvest scheduling model to evaluate financial outputs for various scenarios, introducing different timber flow constraints, as well as varying utilization policies. We show that current policies do contribute to firms harvesting at uneconomic levels. More specifically, our results show that reducing harvest levels could increase firm profitability (measured in an increase in net revenues associated with harvesting operations). We estimate that to meet the annual allowable cut (AAC) of approximately 375,000 cubic metres (m³), the firm loses $500,000 annually (measured by the amount by which total harvesting costs exceed log values delivered at the mill). Reducing the target AAC to just under 300,000 m³ leads to a reversed situation, harvesting revenues now exceeding costs by $1.2 million annually. Dropping the even flow constraint leads to even higher annual profitability of $3.5 million, with the drawback that harvesting levels show significant variation over the 100-year planning period. Our results also show that the largest factor influencing the level of profitability is attributed to access costs (principally roading costs). In this case, other harvesting policies, such as utilization standards, may not be significant factors affecting costs in this region of Northern Ontario.