Abstract
Aim of the study: Integrated information tools models are fundamental for analyzing supply chains as regards pattern of consumption and production. These models are very useful for availability estimations of natural resources when social and environmental uncertainties need to be addressed, as it is the case for forest wood supply chains. This work presents an analysis of a forest wood supply chain focusing on forest operations to estimate the availability of round-wood volume restricted by technical constraints using a local case study in Mexico. The theoretical and technical potentials of woody biomass availability were reviewed considering an assessment of forest operations for round-wood production.Area of the study: municipality of Santa Maria del Rio S.L.P. inside the forested land of San Antonio in Mexico.Material and methods: Geographical, historical and socioeconomic data and field work were used to develop technical constraints as extraction limits. Felling and extraction operations were analyzed resulting in a production rate of 2.48 m3 per productive machine hour.Main results: The theoretically produced standing timber accounted to 21,132 m3. After simulating technical constraints, the technically feasible supply of round-wood accounted to 2, 113 m3. Furthermore, a biomass flow chart for tracing biomass along the system boundaries was developed.Research highlights: With the given results, it is possible to give recommendations and conclusions for the improvement of wood supply chains supported by time studies values, technical constraints on terrain slope, harvesting intensity and mechanization level.Keywords: Mexico; modeling; forest operations; sustainable forest management.
Highlights
The creation of forest wood supply chains, which are based on sustainability criteria, opens a range of opportunities to develop bio-economies supported by forest biomass markets
The aim of this study is to identify significant parameters and model scenarios to improve roundwood production given domestic conditions This work considers the low performance along the forest wood supply chain focusing in critical parameters of forest utilization to give recommendations based on a local case study in Mexico
Forest parameters were selected to define technical and operational restrictions which limit biomass availabi lity for round-wood production. They covered sustainability criteria in terms of environmental impact of forest utilization: 1. Terrain slope: Using geographical information systems (GIS) spatial analysis suppor ted by digital elevation models (DEM), an analysis of the terrain slope at a local level was carried out
Summary
The creation of forest wood supply chains, which are based on sustainability criteria, opens a range of opportunities to develop bio-economies supported by forest biomass markets This is certainly the case of Mexico, a country with a challenging scenario regar ding round-wood supply with a considerable demand of forest products. In addition to the fact that only 15% of the forested areas are under management, during the last decade, timber produc tion constantly decreased: From 7 million m3 in 2007 the production declined to 6.7 million m3 in 2016 (SEMARNAT, 2017). This reduction was mainly due to issues regarding management, sector profitability, harvesting systems and quality of available technical services. Only few forest enter prises have developed good practices for efficient
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