Benchmarking in der Forstwirtschaft

Continuous timber harvest — Costly restriction or profitable solution?

Economic viability of forestry is one of the key pillars of sustainable forest management and a basis for maintaining forests and their multiple benefits for the society. It may be achieved by, inter alia, diversification of sources of income in forest management. The aim of the article is to analyse sources of revenues of state-owned forest enterprises (holdings) in selected European countries and ongoing changes in this respect in recent years. In the paper, we analyse the structure of revenues of state forest enterprises in Poland, Germany (with the examples of Bavaria and Lower Saxony) and Austria; however, particular attention is paid to the State Forests National Forest Holding in Poland, which is the largest state-owned forest holding in the European Union (EU) in terms of area of forests. The study is based on document content analysis methodology (desk research), including annual reports published by forest enterprises, statistical data and also legal regulations. The analysis shows that while revenues from the sale of wood are the main source of income of forest enterprises, some of them are seeking to diversify their sources of revenues. The Austrian Federal Forests can serve as an example of a good development strategy based on diversified sources of income. Also, the Lower Saxony State Forest company, which is approximately 60% dependent on the sale of wood, undertakes other activities, including real estate management, hunting and recreational services. Our study shows that both the State Forests National Forest Holding and the Bavarian State Forests Enterprise are based on timber harvest and sale to a large extent. We conclude that as regards the State Forests Holding in Poland, the possibility of expanding and diversifying commercial activities should become a subject of discussion among foresters, decision makers and politicians.

У лісовому фонді державних лісогосподарських підприємств Житомирської області, які є характерними для Центрального Полісся, соснові насадження становлять від 31,5 до 87,7 % від площі вкритих лісовою рослинністю земель. Переважають свіжі та вологі субори й сугруди. Частка чистих соснових насаджень становить у середньому 23,9 % від площі вкритих лісовою рослинністю земель і 37,3 % від площі соснових насаджень, а потенційно можлива для створення чистих соснових насаджень – 7,7 і 11,2 % відповідно. Здійснені розрахунки є підставою для підвищення стійкості соснових насаджень регіону шляхом збільшення площі мішаних насаджень на ділянках із придатними для цього лісорослинними умовами. Водночас слід брати до уваги можливість зміни гігротопів унаслідок зміни клімату останніх років.

In favour of more entrepreneurial spirit in forest management enterprises (essay) Forest management structures are fit to face the future if they are underpinned by forest enterprises and forest contractors which are economically viable. However, as most forest enterprises are in the red, improvements are necessary. Instead of just covering the deficits, public authorities should transition to a system where they purchase defined services. The forest enterprises should continuously check the economic viability of their catalogue of services and revise it accordingly. Cooperation with forest contractors can often bring savings. The enlargement of managment units can also improve economic viability. In addition, forest enterprises should put their specific competences on the market for services. This will also stimulate improved performance.

This paper deals with the possibility of harmonising the needs of society and the possibilities of the forest property manager. The Municipal forest enterprise of the city of Hradec Králové (MLHK) in the Czech Republic (CZ) is an example of this principle, which proves that the intensive development of a recreational service is possible without limiting this principle. The forest enterprise manages 3707 ha of forest in the immediate vicinity of the city with 92,000 inhabitants. The forest enterprise pays the city rent and makes a profit. The data were obtained by analysing the economic data of the surveyed company, the annual observation of the forest attendance, the surveys of the characteristics of the forest visitors and the surveys of selected 16 companies (from seven countries) managing the forests of some European cities. The main results concerning MLHK are as follows: the share of recreational service costs in the total costs of the forestry activities is 19.7%. The recreational services of the forest are financed from 71.5% from revenues from the sale of raw wood, 17.5% from revenues from the sale of sand from its own quarry, 3.9% from revenues from the recreational services and 7.1% from subsidies. The operation of the gravel quarry contributes to the economic result of the forest enterprise roughly by an amount corresponding to the costs of the recreational services. An average annual forest attendance is 243 people/ha. The inhabitants of the city account for 61.5% of the visitors, 20.4% of the visitors live within a distance of up to 30 km, and 18.1% of the visitors live at a distance of more than 30 km. The main results of the survey among the forest enterprises managing the forests of the selected European cities are as follows: the share of costs for the recreational services in the total costs of the forestry activities is 21–72% for cities with a population of over 100,000, and 3–14% for cities with less than 100,000 inhabitants. As a source of financing recreational services, the forest enterprises from mentioned cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, the money especially came from the city budget (70–100%). Forest enterprises from cities under 100,000 inhabitants stated that they fund a recreational service with 95–100% of the revenues from the sale of raw wood. Data on the MLHK show that it is possible to finance a recreational forest service from its own resources if this is the owner’s priority. However, this only applies under certain conditions, such as that, in addition to the income from forest management, there are other sources of income (in this case, sand mining or subsidies from public programmes). If the forest owner did not have these resources, they would have to pay for the recreational service from their own other resources (e.g., from the city budget).

Forest enterprise key figure comparison Germany – Austria – Switzerland The forest enterprise networks in the so-called DACH region (Germany [D], Austria [A] and Switzerland [CH]) have a long tradition going back to the 1950s. Due to different concepts and definitions, however, the national results are not directly comparable. Therefore, the aim of the DACH initiative is to enhance the comparability of national data sets and to draw conclusions for the forestry sector from the comparison of key figures. In order to achieve this, differences between country- specific indicator definitions were first identified and then offset as much as possible. A subsequent key figure analysis showed that certain forestry key figures of the DACH forest enterprise network can be made comparable, revealing the effects of the partially different conditions in the countries. The comparison of key figures over the years 2008 to 2013 shows that the German and Austrian forest enterprises achieved continuous profits in forest management. In contrast, the Swiss forest enterprises were in deficit despite extensive subsidies and compensations. This is partly due to the significantly higher expenses for timber harvesting, silviculture and forest road infrastructure, resulting in part from higher labor costs and in particular a much higher operational personnel density.

With the federal forestry legislation coming into force in 1993, a multi-functional forest management has been established as the fundamental objective of national forest policy in Switzerland. This modern concept was already developed with the beginning of the federal forest policy during the second half of the last century with the effect that forest enterprises already perform extensive activities in the service sector. For publicly owned forest enterprises in the Alpine region the payment flows clearly show at which degree multi-functional management takes effect on the corresponding financing. Services provided by forest enterprises in the sectors of protection(safe-guarding) and well-being are not only financed by the profits obtained from wood production, but also by budget positions especially established for this purpose. Since the 1980s, the sectoral financing for providing services by the forest enterprises has at least partially contributed to the off-setting of the impact caused by unfavourable economic conditions in wood production. Due to the on-going planning process for the realisation of co-ordinated regional or cantonal policies as well as inter-country developments within the realms of the Alpine convention,the basis for the financing of public forest enterprises based on multi-functional forest management will be even more strongly differentiated in coming years. Pilot projects carried out under the new financial equalisation system between the federal and cantonal governments suggest that multifunctional forest management will form a solid basis for the development and implementation of forest enterprises strategies. On the operational level it is necessary to develop and apply suitable instruments for cost and management control.

The relevance of the research was driven by the necessity for the rational use of the forest resource potential of Scots pine stands in the Volyn Polissya, one of the most forested regions of Ukraine with significant ecological, economic, and social importance. The aim of the study was to examine the stand structure and analyse the utilisation of Scots pine stands in the Volyn Polissya, as well as to explore ways to optimise forest management processes in the region. A comprehensive analysis of the spatial and age structure, as well as the productivity of Scots pine stands in the Volyn Polissya region, was carried out, with an assessment of timber stock utilisation by type of felling. It was found that approximately 64% of forested areas in the study region were covered by Scots pine stands. Artificial pine stands prevailed in terms of area, accounting for over 52%. The most widespread were middle-aged stands, which could be explained by active post-war forest regeneration. The majority of pine stands grew in fresh and moist subor forests, which were optimal for the species' development. The average annual volume of Scots pine timber harvested by forest enterprises in the region amounted to 1.9 million m3, with the majority obtained through principal fellings and sanitary cuttings. Among thinnings, a significant share of timber harvesting came from commercial thinning (age of 41-70). The proportion of other types of felling, both related and unrelated to forest management, ranged from 1 to 2%. The average volume of harvested Scots pine timber per hectare ranged from 2 m3 ha-1 for pre-commercial thinning (age of 11-20) to 173 m3 ha-1 for principal fellings. The results of the study may be used to improve forest management practices and to formulate a strategy for the sustainable development of forestry in the Volyn Polissya

Timber harvesting, especially motor-manual felling, in Croatia, as in many other countries, is one of the most hazardous economic activities. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the latest trends and risk factors related to the incidence of work-induced injuries in structural organization units of national forest enterprise. A combined approach of literature review and assembled secondary data was applied to gather data on workplace accidents over the years 2014–2020. Work-induced injuries data were drawn from the records of the national enterprise Croatian Forests Ltd. which manages state forests (76% of total forest area). A total of 1626 work-induced injuries were processed and entered into the database. Data analysis was conducted using statistical and descriptive methods. Research results have proven a significant difference in the injury rate over the years 2014–2020 in the Croatian forest enterprise. During the analysed period the highest number of workplace accidents (51.35% of all recorded workplace accidents) occurred during the forest harvesting phase, i.e., during motor-manual felling. Trends in the incidence of work-induced injuries in the observed period do not show any significant improvement. The key findings have pointed out that forest administrations which practice even-aged forest management have 25% or more injuries than forest administrations which practice selective forest management. Related to the average rate of change by forest administration, the largest annual increase or decrease of the selected safety indicators is recorded for smallest forest administrations. Related to total number of injuries, the smallest forest administrations have the least injuries and show statistically significant difference compared to large forest administrations. When comparing the number of injuries per 1000 employees, medium sized forest administrations have the highest value of indicator and show statistical significance. Discussion and conclusion of the paper emphasizes the need for systematic research in the field of ergonomy, safety and health of forest workers in Croatian forestry sector. Additionally, the development and inclusion of proactive safety culture is recognized as a mechanism that can further reduce work injuries and improve occupational safety which should have a significant role in the process of certification of forest management according to the FSC standard.

Effects of carbon sequestration rewards on forest management—An empirical application of adjusted Faustmann Formulae

In the field of forestry, one of the most economically important ecosystem service is the provision of timber. The need to calculate the economic effects of forest management in the short, medium, and long term is increasing. Forest operations or timber harvesting, which comprises felling, processing, and transport of trees or timber, are responsible for a large part of the costs and environmental impacts associated to forest management or enterprises. From a decision maker’s perspective, it is essential to estimate working productivity and production costs under given operating conditions before any operation is conducted. This work addresses the lack of a valid collection of models that allows estimating time, productivities, and costs of labor and machinery for the most important forest operations in forest stands under Central European conditions. To create such models, we used data from forest enterprises, manual time studies, and the literature. This work presents a decision support tool that estimates the wood harvesting productivities of 12 different kinds of forest operations under Central European conditions. It includes forest operations using chainsaws, harvesters, skidders, forwarders, chippers, cable and tower yarders, and helicopters. In addition, the tool covers three models for wood volume estimation. The tool is written in Java and available open-source under the Apache License. This work shows how the tool can be used by describing its graphical user interface (GUI) and its application programming interface (API) that facilitates bulk processing of scientific data. Carefully selected default values allow estimations without knowing all input variables in detail. Each model is accompanied by an in-depth documentation where the forest operation, input variables, formulas, and statistical background are given. We conclude that HeProMo is a very useful tool for applications in forest practice, research, and teaching.

In the field of forestry, one of the most economically important ecosystem service is the provision of timber. The need to calculate the economic effects of forest management in the short, medium, and long term is increasing. Forest operations or timber harvesting, which comprises felling, processing, and transport of trees or timber, are responsible for a large part of the costs and environmental impacts associated to forest management or enterprises. From a decision maker's perspective, it is essential to estimate working productivity and production costs under given operating conditions before any operation is conducted. This work addresses the lack of a valid collection of models that allows estimating time, productivities, and costs of labor and machinery for the most important forest operations in forest stands under Central European conditions. To create such models, we used data from forest enterprises, manual time studies, and the literature. This work presents a decision support tool that estimates the wood harvesting productivities of 12 different kinds of forest operations under Central European conditions. It includes forest operations using chainsaws, harvesters, skidders, forwarders, chippers, cable and tower yarders, and helicopters. In addition, the tool covers three models for wood volume estimation. The tool is written in Java and available open-source under the Apache License. This work shows how the tool can be used by describing its graphical user interface (GUI) and its application programming interface (API) that facilitates bulk processing of scientific data. Carefully selected default values allow estimations without knowing all input variables in detail. Each model is accompanied by an in-depth documentation where the forest operation, input variables, formulas, and statistical background are given. We conclude that HeProMo is a very useful tool for applications in forest practice, research, and teaching.

A few studies on log auction sales have addressed competition and cooperation among seller enterprises. Interactions among state forest enterprises in the same or neighboring regions have been neglected. This study aimed to determine the extent of competitive and cooperative relationships among forest enterprises (FEs) in relation to the prices of Austrian pine (Pinus nigra), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and fir (Abies sp.) log sales by auction. The study investigated log sales between 2017 and 2018 conducted by 26 FEs in Turkey. Competitive and cooperative relations among FEs, based on auction time, volume and prices, were tested via correlation and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that an FE may display competitive or cooperative relationships with other FEs, regardless of whether or not such FEs are border neighbors. We determined that an FE may compete with another FE in one log type, while cooperating in another wood type. Our study shows that log sales revenues of some FEs can be increased by changing the length of time between the sales of two FEs, by not holding the sales of two FEs on the same day, and by differentiating the volume of rival and complementary wood types. Our study found that better management of competition and solidarity between forest enterprises would help create more financial resources for sustainable forest management without having to harvest more trees.

Forest management faces growing uncertainty concerning environmental conditions and demand for ecosystem services. To help forest managers consider uncertainty, we applied a robust and multi-criteria approach to select the optimal composition of a forest enterprise from 12 stand types. In our simulation, the forest enterprise strives for either financial return or a multi-criteria forest management considering financial return, carbon storage and forest ecosystem stability. To quantify the influence of climate change on these decision criteria, we used the concept of analogous climate zones. Our results provide recommendations for long-term strategies for tree species selection in a Southeast German forest enterprise. The results show that considering both uncertainty and multifunctionality in forest management led to more diversified forest compositions. However, robust and multi-criteria optimisation required the forest enterprise to pay a premium in terms of lower income. Financial returns decreased when forest composition accounted for uncertainty or multiple objectives. We also found that adaptation measures could only partly financially compensate the effects of climate change. As the study is limited to two tree species, including additional tree species, variants of mixing proportions and further silvicultural strategies in the optimisation appears a promising avenue for future research.

Forest certification plays an important role in supporting and ensuring sustainable forest management. By November 2017, the FM FSC certified state hunting and forestry enterprises are 72 in number, part of which are included in group certificates of the respective state-owned enterprises in whose territory they are located. Certified forest area in Bulgaria in November 2017 is 1 315 594 ha. These numbers are growing very fast at the moment. The main objective of the study is to analyze and evaluate the profitability of introducing the FSC certificate for sustainable forest management. In this respect a case study analysis is carried out at Yundola and Petrohan, which are Training forest enterprises at the University of Forestry - Sofia. These two forest enterprises and adjacent state forest and hunting forest enterprises are considered in this case as model forest areas, including certified and subject to certification forest enterprises and typical forest areas with coniferous and deciduous forests. The following research objectives were fulfilled in order to achieve the stated goal: 1.Analysis and estimation of the profitability of the implementation of the FSC certificate for sustainable forest management in Yundola Training forests. 2.Analysis and estimation of the profitability of the implementation of the FSC certificate for sustainable forest management in the Petrohan Training forests. Based on the study and the results obtained, conclusions and recommendations were made on the impact of FSC certification on the activities of certified FSC forest enterprises. On the basis of a developed model analysis of the profitability of State hunting enterprise Vitinya, a methodology for analysis and assessment of the profitability of forestry and hunting forest enterprises, certified and subject to FSC certification was developed.