Responsible Forest Management Research Articles

Classification and Description of the Most Well-Known Environmental Approaches Used for the Maintenance and Improvement f Forest Management

"The importance of forests in our society is extremely significant, with multiple benefits for both the environment and people. Considering the high importance of forests and the need for responsible and sustainable utilization, various approaches have been developed to promote sustainable forestry in different ways. This paper focuses on identifying, classifying, and analysing these approaches in Romania and at the European level. Firstly, the legislative system, through its crucial role in establishing rules for different sectors, plays an important role in ensuring sustainable forestry. The entirety of laws that impact forests form the regulated tool of the state. On the other hand, organizations that benefit from goods and services provided by forests aim to assure customers that their activities do not have a negative impact on forests. Taking these factors into account, non-governmental organizations have developed different standards and policies to maintain and improve forest practices. These systems are not regulated by the state; rather, they are voluntary instruments. Their use depends on the willingness and interest of the forest owner or manager. Both types of instruments aim to improve forest practices and promote a sustainable approach to the utilization of forest resources. Keywords: Responsible forest management, voluntary system, reglemented system."

The Effect of Forest Certification on Log Sale Prices: A Case Study in Northwestern Turkey

Forest certification is a tool contributing to the achievement of sustainable and responsible forest management. It also presents consumers with a market to purchase products coming from responsibly managed forests and provides forest managers with improved market access for their products. Even if forest certification incurs higher costs that affect the sale price, consumers generally have a greater willingness to pay more for certified products than for uncertified products. The objective of this study is to analyze the changes in the sales prices of oak and beech log in auction sales occurring during certified and uncertified periods at Demirköy Forest Enterprise, which received an FSC Certificate in 2014. For this aim, the Chow test was used and linear regression models were developed. It was found that the log sales prices of certified and uncertified periods are statistically different from each other at p = 0.05 significance level. As a consequence, it was determined that there was an increase in price of approximately 12% for oak and 19% for beech at log sales after certification. This study deals with only part of the economic impact of certification. The results can contribute to the forest certification database in order to support the decision-makers (managers and wood manufacturers) in their strategic decisions. The study will enable the forestry sector to see the possible reflections of certification practices in the country and the world markets. The effect of certification should be further investigated by including other factors (supply-demand situation of the forest industry, sales of neighboring enterprises, market conditions, etc.) affecting log sales prices.

Hierarchical Analysis of Factors Determining the Impact of Forest Certification in Mexico

Forest certification is a private, voluntary and market-driven instrument designed to promote responsible forest management. This paper focused on the FSC and the NOM NMX-AA-143-SCFI-2008 schemes used in Mexico for the certification of sustainable forest management. In this paper we used the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) to study the factors that determine the main impacts of forest certification in México. A panel of 30 experts was selected as decision-makers to find which principles, criteria and indicators are considered as the most relevant while implementing forest certification. For decision-makers, the environmental principle occupied the first place with 40.26% of importance in the implementation of forest certification, followed by the social principle, and the economic principle with 32.15% and 27.59% of importance, respectively. Regarding the criteria, forest management and production, biodiversity, and forest protection were considered to be the most relevant. Regarding the indicators, the results indicated that forest certification in Mexico can have a positive impact on the existence of educational institutions, community services such as water, energy, medical services and drainage, the quality of the forest management plans, investment in forest management, machinery and equipment, environmental services, recreation, tourism, research, development and community education, planning for the conservation of biological diversity, and planning for biodiversity conservation.

Community perceptions: A comparative analysis of community participation in forest management: FSC-certified and non-certified plantations in Mozambique

With the increasing expansion of large-scale forest plantations in developing countries, concerns are rising about relationships between plantations and local communities. Community participation in forest plantation management can improve relationships between forestry companies and adjacent communities and affect the distribution of benefits from plantations. The social dimension of the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) responsible forest management standard targets the participation of local communities in plantation management. Using household survey data from villages adjacent to plantations owned by two private forest companies in Mozambique, we assess households' perceptions about their participation in plantations' activities. We compare the perspectives of households in villages adjacent to FSC-certified plantations with those of households in villages adjacent to non-certified plantations. Our quantitative analyses show that communities adjacent to the certified plantations are more likely to perceive that they participate in activities of plantations. In terms of socio-economic characteristics, male-headed households and households with plantation employees were more likely than their counterparts to participate in plantations' activities. However, we did not find statistically significant relationships between the perceptions of communities near the certified plantations and those near the non-certified plantations regarding their satisfaction with their participation, the extent to which they consider the plantation a ‘friendly good neighbor’ and whether households have benefitted from the plantations. Our results suggest that market-based approaches of forest governance, such as forest management certification, can complement state policy towards responsible forest management.

Developing a New Model for Ecological Capability Evaluation of Forestry in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

Forest planning is a necessary requirement for long-term, economically efficient and environmentally responsible forest management and use. Iran has 12 million ha of forest cover, with 5 million ha in the mountainous Zagros area. Many of the improper uses in these forests, so far removed from the past, have resulted in significant degradation. The purpose of this paper is to check and compare the prepared methods, including the Iranian Ecological Model (with seven classes using Boolean logic), its revised method (with four classes using Boolean logic and four classes using geometric mean evaluation, as well) and a new model for ecological capability evaluation for better planning management for commercial and conservational forestry in Jahrom County located in Fars Province, Iran. In this study, we assessed the potential for conservational forestry in two ways: first, by adjusting the quantitative evaluation threshold of the model’s primary topographic criterion, and then, by removing this criterion altogether. It is worth noting that the necessary information, including climatic, topographic, soil and other types, was compiled by national and local organisations in Iran for the research. The improved Boolean technique (with [Formula: see text]) outperformed the Iranian Ecological Model (with [Formula: see text]), while the revised method using geometric mean assessment and calibration (with [Formula: see text]) outperformed the other methods tested. Furthermore, when all of the forestry capacity maps were compared, conservational forestry map demonstrated a higher capability after removing the topographic criterion in the region (with [Formula: see text] for calibration technique), indicating conservational forestry’s potential in Jahrom County. Overall, because of its simplicity and excellent precision, this study may be utilised as a fundamental framework to evaluate ecological capability for other locations with similar conditions, and this model can help users and administrations undertake executive initiatives.

The Evolution of the Dialogue and Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management with Special Emphasis on the United States of America

ABSTRACT A review covering a synopsis of the history of forest sustainability concepts and how it has led to the social, economic, and legal frameworks, criteria and indicators, and key incentive programs, which promote and influence conservation and sustainable management of forests in the United States of America is presented in two parts. The main findings show that the United States of America is a world leader in sustainable forest management, demonstrated by the fact that since the beginning of the 20th Century, forest area has been relatively stable although the population has increased, and the country remains one of the top timber producers in the world. Sustainable forest management in the United States of America is achieved in the context of private and public ownership, stakeholder collaboration, a federalist system with overarching federal laws that give freedom to state and local jurisdictions to use regulatory and voluntary means to achieve those aims, and a variety of government incentive programs offering technical assistance, financial assistance, and tax relief for landowners who proactively practice responsible forest management. This framework is reinforced through consistent enforcement of laws, monitoring, and reporting of changing conditions, and an array of future modeling to inform management actions.

NutSpaFHy—A Distributed Nutrient Balance Model to Predict Nutrient Export from Managed Boreal Headwater Catchments

Responsible forest management requires accounting for adverse environmental effects, such as increased nutrient export to water courses. We constructed a spatially-distributed nutrient balance model NutSpaFHy that extends the hydrological model SpaFHy by introducing a grid-based nutrient balance sub-model and a conceptual solute transport routine to approximate total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) export to streams. NutSpaFHy uses openly-available Multi-Source National Forest Inventory data, soil maps, topographic databases, location of water bodies, and meteorological variables as input, and computes nutrient processes in monthly time-steps. NutSpaFHy contains two calibrated parameters both for N and P, which were optimized against measured N and P concentrations in runoff from twelve forested catchments distributed across Finland. NutSpaFHy was independently tested against six catchments. The model produced realistic nutrient exports. For one catchment, we simulated 25 scenarios, where clear-cuts were located differently with respect to distance to water body, location on mineral or peat soil, and on sites with different fertility. Results indicate that NutSpaFHy can be used to identify current and future nutrient export hot spots, allowing comparison of logging scenarios with variable harvesting area, location and harvest techniques, and to identify acceptable scenarios that preserve the wood supply whilst maintaining acceptable level of nutrient export.

Tracking Rates of Forest Disturbance and Associated Carbon Loss in Areas of Illegal Amber Mining in Ukraine Using Landsat Time Series

Mapping forest disturbance is crucial for many applications related to decision-making for sustainable forest management. This study identified the effect of illegal amber mining on forest change and accumulated carbon stock across a study area of 8125.5 ha in northern Ukraine. Our method relies on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) implementation of the Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery (LandTrendr) temporal segmentation algorithm of Landsat time-series (LTS) to derive yearly maps of forest disturbance and recovery in areas affected by amber extraction operations. We used virtual reality (VR) 360 interactive panoramic images taken from the sites to attribute four levels of forest disturbance associated with the delta normalized burn ratio (dNBR) and then calculated the carbon loss. We revealed that illegal amber extraction in Ukraine has been occurring since the middle of the 1990s, yielding 3260 ha of total disturbed area up to 2019. This study indicated that the area of forest disturbance increased dramatically during 2013–2014, and illegal amber operations persist. As a result, regrowth processes were mapped on only 375 ha of total disturbed area. The results were integrated into the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) quality management system in the region to categorize Forest Management Units (FMUs) conforming to different disturbance rates and taking actions related to their certification status. Moreover, carbon loss evaluation allows the responsible forest management systems to be streamlined and to endorse ecosystem service assessment.

Clearcuts and related secondary dieback undermine the ecological effectiveness of FSC certification in a boreal forest

BackgroundOver the last 25 years, the prominent forest certification system established by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has used by many companies worldwide for claiming responsible forest management. The objectives of the Russian National FSC standard to decrease the size of clearcuts and the retention of forest elements such as residual seed trees need on-site validation to proof the effectiveness of FSC. To assess the ecological impacts of harvesting practices and benefits of FSC certification, we geospatially compared logging activities with and without FSC certification. Within a sample area covering approximately 3,000 km2 in the east of the Russian Arkhangelsk Region, we used available data on tree cover loss and satellite images to assess secondary impacts of clearcuttings on adjacent remnant forests and to quantify the logging intensity. Additionally, the size and structure as well as the density of skidding trails of ten specific clearcuttings located within the sample area were surveyed using satellite images and in the field observation to delineate the boundaries of clearcuts and forested remnants within the clearcuts.ResultsWe found a significant increase of small-scale tree cover loss in the proximity of the clearcuts. Patchy dieback is possibly linked to the scale and intensity of logging in the surroundings. On the investigated clearcuts, FSC failed to reduce the size, to increase the retention of forest remnants including seed trees on logged areas, and to maintain larger tracts of undisturbed ground and soil compared to clearcuts that were logged before they received FSC-certification.ConclusionsTrees and forest remnants remaining inside an increasingly stressed forest ecosystem matrix may not resist further harvesting-related and climate change-induced stresses and disturbances. Large-scale clearcuttings seem to have negative impacts even in adjacent forests and undermine the ecological effectiveness of FSC certification in the study area. The Russian FSC standard is not clearly setting effective guidelines that induce a change in clearcutting practices in order to reduce ecological risks.

Prioritizing Areas for Land Conservation and Forest Management Planning for the Threatened Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) in the Atlantic Northern Forest of Canada

Populations of Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) are declining in Canada’s Atlantic Northern Forest. Land conservancies and government agencies are interested in identifying areas to protect populations, while some timber companies wish to manage forests to minimize impacts on Canada Warbler and potentially create future habitat. We developed seven conservation planning scenarios using Zonation software to prioritize candidate areas for permanent land conservation (4 scenarios) or responsible forest management (minimizing species removal during forest harvesting while promoting colonization of regenerated forest; 3 scenarios). Factors used to prioritize areas included Canada Warbler population density, connectivity to protected areas, future climate suitability, anthropogenic disturbance, and recent Canada Warbler observations. We analyzed each scenario for three estimates of natal dispersal distance (5, 10, and 50 km). We found that scenarios assuming large dispersal distances prioritized a few large hotspots, while low dispersal distance scenarios prioritized smaller, broadly distributed areas. For all scenarios, efficiency (proportion of current Canada Warbler population retained per unit area) declined with higher dispersal distance estimates and inclusion of climate change effects in the scenario. Using low dispersal distance scenarios in decision-making offers a more conservative approach to maintaining this species at risk. Given the differences among the scenarios, we encourage conservation planners to evaluate the reliability of dispersal estimates, the influence of habitat connectivity, and future climate suitability when prioritizing areas for conservation.

Ecological effects of clearcutting practices in a boreal forest (Arkhangelsk Region, Russian Federation) both with and without FSC certification

Abstract The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is widely recognized as certification standard for responsible forest management across all major forest biomes. Still, only few field studies assessed if FSC certification generates measurable positive impacts in a managed forest ecosystem. Consequently, unequivocal evidence on ecological effectiveness of FSC is scarce. Especially the Russian boreal forests, where FSC has shown a rapid growth of certified areas, have hardly been studied regarding ecologically positive achievements delivered by certification compared to conventional practices. In this case study, systematic research was carried out to assess the ecological effectiveness of FSC in the boreal forests of the Arkhangelsk Region, Russian Federation. At harvested sites belonging to two companies, managed with and without FSC-certification respectively, and at a primary reference forest, 95 variables related to five indicators (living tree biomass, deadwood, rejuvenation, vegetation, and microclimate regulation) were empirically assessed. With regard to the most ecologically relevant parameters chosen for this study, there were very few substantial differences of FSC-certified forestry operations to conventional ones. This can be explained with the equally high amounts of harvested timber (ca. 97% extracted) as well as the practice of large-scale clearcutting (up to >50 ha), generating significant structural and functional ecological changes in the forest ecosystem. The findings suggest that there is no real change in forest operations towards an ecologically responsible harvesting. Rather, FSC-certified forestry contributes to the ongoing loss of primary forests in the remaining Intact Forest Landscapes, and FSC does not seem to slow down the loss of ecosystem functionality. Actually, the large-scale clearcuts do not resemble any comparable natural disturbance regime and produce risky ecological changes related to micro- and mesoclimate. Our data show substantial heating of the large clearcuts and the loss of ecosystemic buffering capacity, being highly relevant in the context of vulnerability to climate change.

Differences in forest management practices in Primorsky Krai: Case study of certified and non-certified by Forest Stewardship Council forest concessions

ABSTRACTThe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) aims to promote environmentally responsible forest management globally. However, quantifiable evidence of effects of FSC on forest management practices is lacking. FSC has been present in the Russian forestry arena for over 20 years. In this case study, we compare ecological indicators of forest management in FSC-certified and non-certified companies in Primorsky Krai of the Russian Far East. Those indicators include percent of forest cover loss and gain on forest concessions managed by three certified and three non-certified companies. We also interview a range of stakeholders involved with forest management or in forest policy planning in Russia to provide context for this case study. Results indicate no difference between certified and non-certified companies with regard to forest cover loss from 2008 to 2015 or forest cover gain from 2000 to 2012. Stakeholder interviews reveal that while forest certification is viewed positively and considered an efficient mechanism to improve forest management, the stakeholders doubt its ability to stimulate quantifiable changes in forest management practices in Russia and the Far East specifically. We focus on Primorsky Krai because of its unique geographic location, where its neighbors China and Japan significantly influence Primorsky Krai’s export market.

Intention to Purchase Sustainable Wood Products: An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants

Although Forest Principles promoting responsible forest management were formally adopted in 1992, the sustainability of forests is still undermined by harmful practices. In this regard, voluntary forest certification may represent an effective way to lessen the negative impacts of timber and forestry products upon the environment and upon the living conditions of local populations. This work aims to investigate the role of socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of the forestry certification schemes and attitudinal factors on the purchasing intention of certified wood-derived products in Italy. A convenience sample of 371 consumers were interviewed through an online–administered questionnaire, and data collected were analysed by means of an ordered probit model. The results show that income and age, together with knowledge of the main certification labels and the attitudes towards certifications, have a positive and statistically significant effect on intentions to purchase certified wood products Keywords:

Does cavity reuse affect timing of reproduction and fledgling success in the Black Woodpecker?

Nesting in old cavities may be adaptive for birds as it may offer an advantage of earlier laying and higher fitness through more recruiting offspring. Black Woodpeckers frequently use old cavities, which gives the opportunity to test how this behavior affects the timing and the success of reproduction. In this paper, we have tested a prediction that excavating a new cavity causes a delay in breeding, and that it is linked to lower productivity. We found that in the Wielkopolski National Park (western Poland) Black Woodpeckers nested exclusively in European beeches, mainly in living trees, and most frequently in their old cavities. The median relative egg-laying date in old cavities was 5.5 days earlier than in new cavities. We did not find a difference in clutch size between old and new cavities due to its low variation in the population. The proportion of offspring surviving to the end of the nestling period was 0.812 in old cavities and 0.632 in new cavities, although this did not differ significantly. However, survivorship dropped rapidly in the hatching period, especially in new cavities. In Black Woodpecker, the number of fledglings that succeeded was best explained by a model including the age of the cavity and the relative laying date. The estimated parameters of the best ranked model revealed that the number of fledglings is affected by the age of the cavity as it was higher for old cavities than for new cavities. This study shows that nest reuse is adaptive for primary excavators as it offers time and energy savings needed for cavity excavation, and increases productivity, compared to those pairs of birds that are forced to excavate a new cavity. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that cavity excavation is energetically expensive and support the prediction of tradeoffs between nest building and different components of reproduction. Responsible forest management should consider the need to protect living beeches with old cavities, which are frequently used by Black Woodpeckers.

Do responsibly managed logging concessions adequately protect jaguars and other large and medium-sized mammals? Two case studies from Guatemala and Peru

Large areas of tropical forest have been designated for timber production but logging practices vary widely. Reduced-impact logging is considered best practice and third-party certification aims to ensure that strict standards are met. This includes minimizing the number of roads constructed, avoiding sensitive areas and strictly regulating hunting. Large scale camera trap grids were utilized in Guatemala and Peru to evaluate the impact of reduced-impact logging in certified concessions upon the large and medium-sized mammal fauna with special emphasis on jaguars (Panthera onca). Spatial capture-recapture models showed that jaguar density in Peru (4.54 ± 0.83 ind. 100 km−2) was significantly higher than in Guatemala (1.52 ± 0.34 ind. 100 km−2) but in both regions, densities were comparable to protected areas. Camera traps detected 22 species of large and medium sized mammals in Guatemala and 27 in Peru and a multi-species occupancy model revealed that logging had no negative impact on any of the species studied and actually had an initial positive impact on several herbivore species. We found no avoidance of logging roads; in fact, many species, especially carnivores, frequently used logging roads as movement corridors. Our results indicate that well-managed logging concessions can maintain important populations of large and medium-sized mammals including large herbivores and large carnivores as long as hunting is controlled and timber volumes extracted are low. Responsible forest management would therefore be an ideal activity in the buffer zones and multiple use zones of protected areas creating much less impact and conflict than alternatives such as agriculture or cattle ranching while still providing economic opportunities. Logging concessions can also play an important role in maintaining landscape connectivity between protected areas.

Motivations, adoption and impact of voluntary environmental certification in the Italian Forest based industry: The case of the FSC standard

Over the past few years several private voluntary schemes have been developed worldwide to address the environmental issues in the forest based industry. Using survey data, this study analyse the main factors motivating companies operating in the Italian forest based industry to implement FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) standard, as a tool to promote responsible forest management and traceability of derived products, and the impact of this standard on the economic and organisational results. The findings provide evidences that signalling mechanisms drive the entrepreneurs towards the adoption of FSC certification, followed by moral and ethical reasons. In terms of impact, emerges that companies are compared to higher operation costs necessary to obtain the certification of compliance with the scheme requirements, that are only partially compensated, not by an increase in the selling price of certified products, but by the company's ability to establish new business relationships with a consequent increase in the sales.

Canadian Forestry Accreditation Board Annual Report – 2015 / Bureau Canadien d'agrément en foresterie Rapport Annuel – 2015: SFI Partnering for Conservation and Community Impact: New Pathway to Environmentally Responsible Forest Management in LEED: Legal Forestry alone is not worthy of LEED Credit: All Tree Species Vulnerable to Drought?: Carbon in Pacific Northwest Forests Reflects Harvest History: Value of Urban

Canadian Forestry Accreditation Board Annual Report – 2015 / Bureau Canadien d'agrément en foresterie Rapport Annuel – 2015: SFI Partnering for Conservation and Community Impact: New Pathway to Environmentally Responsible Forest Management in LEED: Legal Forestry alone is not worthy of LEED Credit: All Tree Species Vulnerable to Drought?: Carbon in Pacific Northwest Forests Reflects Harvest History: Value of Urban

Linking National Forestry Reform Through Forest Concession Policy and Land Cover Change

In Peru, a new forest reform process laid the foundation for the establishment of a large sector of private small and medium-sized forest enterprises to practice responsible forest management. This paper analyzes the influence of a newly established concession system on forest landscape change. Specifically, the paper examines whether the concession system promoted and increased land-cover changes and changed fragmentation patterns between 2001 and 2010. Classified Landsat images at 2-year intervals from 2001 to 2003 and 2006 to 2010 were used to examine trajectories in forest, non-forest and regrowth areas. Non-linear changes were found to have occurred in each of the forest classes. Changes in fragmentation varied in size, density, aggregation and configuration over the study period. Forest reforms account for changes in specific land-cover classes through pattern dynamics within timber concessions. However, not all results relate to landscape pattern metrics. Although new forest legislation has been important in reorganizing the forest sector, other causal factors including levels of technological and managerial expertise, credit availability and law enforcement structures play a decisive role in the successive implementation of forest legislation.

Equity and forest certification — A case study in Brazil

Forest Stewardship Council certification aims to use markets to promote socially and environmentally responsible forest management, with a core principle of social “equity”. Yet there is no comprehensive framework for defining and assessing “equity”, nor is there a methodology for determining differences in definitions among forest stakeholders. We've employed an analytical framework to a case study of the FSC in Brazil to assess if FSC equity goals are coherent and adherent to its policies, standards and impacts, what factors in FSC's implementation are influencing that coherency, and whether FSC's policies on equity match expectations of stakeholders affected by certification. We found that contextual market factors, local capacity, and procedural rules governing the certification process influence FSC's implementation in an asymmetric way, favoring the certification of large industrial firms over community-based operations. Meanwhile FSC policies and standards prioritize procedural and contextual equity within the operations of individual certified firms. This contrasts with the expectations of local stakeholders focused on distributive outcomes. In general, FSC's ability to reach both its own and local stakeholder goals for equity relies on the proactive agency of actors committed to overcoming the many barriers to local benefit that are both external and internal to certification itself.

Capacity for Timber Management in Small and Medium Forest Enterprises: A Case Study from the Peruvian Amazon

With the implementation of a new legal framework for more responsible forest management in Peru, private small-medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) have become the most important social actors engaged in commercial forestry in the Peruvian Amazon. Despite the role of SMFEs in contributing to employment and local economic growth, there is little information with respect to their economic performance and capacities. This is a hindrance to efforts aimed at better characterizing this important sector and its influence on the development and conservation of tropical forests. For this study, 29 private SMFEs were surveyed to inventory their capital assets in order to evaluate their capacities to carry out timber management. Results indicate that SMFEs vary greatly in terms of their produced and natural capital assets, and consequently in their forest management capabilities as well. While most SMFEs lack adequate capacity for sustainable forest management, those that had more valuable timber resources and physical infrastructure attained forest certification. SMFE capacities depend greatly on external mechanisms to ensure consistent technical and financial assistance.