A linear programming model for predicting the sustainable yield of timber from a community forest on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica

Abstract

The establishment of cooperative or ‘community’ forests in buffer zones surrounding national parks in developing countries is a popular means for protecting the parks. The success of such endeavours depends, in part, on a sustainable supply of timber. Consequently, comprehensive forest management planning and, specifically, the determination of annual timber harvests must be made an integral part of management activities of project staff and supporting organizations. The regulation of a community forest on the Osa Peninsula was achieved by specifying and simulating polycyclic silvicultural prescriptions to generate the required periodic timber yields. The long-term scheduling of harvests was formulated as a classic ‘Model I’ linear programming problem, modified for polycyclic systems. First period harvest was maximized subject to area, cutting cycle, and volume control constraints. The model was used in a case study of a 1200 ha community forest comprised of 15 landowners. The results suggest that the cooperative will have difficulty supplying a proposed portable sawmill, particularly once the conversion of the forest from the unmanaged to managed state is complete.