Characterization of Small Forest Landowners as a Basis for Sustainable Forestry Management in the Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins Region, Chile

Francisca Ruiz-Gozalvo,Roberto Garfias-Salinas,Susana Martín-Fernández

doi:10.3390/su11247215

Francisca Ruiz-Gozalvo, Roberto Garfias-Salinas + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247215

Copy DOI

Abstract

Sclerophyllous forests are extremely sensitive to global warming, and the sclerophyllous forest in the possession of small forest landowners (SFLs) in the Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins Region in Chile is degraded in spite of their high ecological value. Due to the total lack of forest management, the yield obtained from native forests is very low, with highly intervened forests and intense soil erosion. The main contribution of this article is to present, for the first time, a study on the characterization and problems of 211 small forest landowners in this region of Chile. After interviewing the landowners, multivariate analysis techniques were applied to the results of the survey, which enabled four types of SFL to be identified. Differences were found in regard to the surface area of their properties and the products extracted, among others. However, they all had a similar social profile, low education level and little training in forest management, very advanced ages, a lack of initiative to create forest communities, and lack of basic services due to their isolation. The characterization of the SFLs allowed proposals to be designed for future sustainable forest management activities to help mitigate the continuous deterioration of the native forest and obtain products in a sustainable way and with greater yields, considering current legal aspects, access to subsidies, and specific forest training plans for each type of SFL.

Highlights

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the most widely known type of management at the global level
This verification eliminated any landowner who did not fulfill any of the following requirements: the property did not have native forest, the area was larger than 200 ha, the landowners did not have the deed to the property, or the information collected in the survey was incomplete
Dimension 1 is mainly explained by productive variables; Dimension 2 is explained by property variables; and Dimension 3 is explained by social variables

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the most widely known type of management at the global level. The percentage of forest areas with forest management plans varies by region, ranging from below 20% in South America and West and Central Africa to over 90% in Europe and Central America [1]. In this context, as a country participating in the workgroup on criteria and indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests (Montreal Process), Chile has carried out a line of work aimed at developing support tools for the monitoring and assessment of the sustainability of forest management in subnational projects, conducting studies in areas with humid climates and mild summers in the regions of Araucania, Los Lagos, and Biobio (see Figure 1).

Methods

Results

Conclusion