Abstract
In eastern Canada, harvesting practices and spatial organization of harvested sites are modulated according to ecosystem forest management objectives. We determined how spatial organization affects efficiency by evaluating wood procurement costs. A comparative analysis of efficiency was presented using a non-parametric technique, i.e., data envelopment analysis (DEA), which allows multiple variable analyses of different factors. A database of 50 harvested sites during the period 2015–2018, located along a north-south latitudinal gradient between 46° to 50°, was constructed with variables describing spatial organization (roads and dispersion of patches) and operational aspects (wood procurement costs). The evaluated financial efficiencies show high values greater than 70%. The causes of inefficiency were dispersion of the patches, distance to the mill, and the number of kilometers of built roads. When efficiency values were arranged by latitudinal location, northern sites exhibited a lower value of overall and scale efficiency due to the high values in the wood harvested, and developed road density of the zone.
Highlights
Forests provide a wide range of social, environmental, and economic benefits to society [1]
We examined homogeneity within decision making units” (DMUs) to determine whether the following data envelopment analysis (DEA)
Because technical efficiency (BCC) averaged 89% with a low degree of variation (9%). Becausethis this efficiency describes the intrinsic technology of the process, the high values among all the efficiency describes the intrinsic technology of the process, the high values among all the latitudinal locations studied demonstrated the advantages of the utilizing technology and latitudinal locations studied demonstrated the advantages of the utilizing technology and management strategies, which helped reduce differences in a given territory
Summary
Forests provide a wide range of social, environmental, and economic benefits to society [1]. Timber harvesting is the first link in the wood supply chain for other branches of the industry, and is the sector that is responsible for field activities, wood extraction, and transport. This operation directly affects the cost and supply of raw materials to the wood product manufacturing industry [3]. Within a given harvest area, forest management is the process by which the planning and implementation of the activity are carried out based upon legal, social, and technical regulations [4]. In eastern Canada, within the province of Quebec, ecosystem forest management was set into law in 2013 [5]
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