Timber Revenues Research Articles

Incorporating Climate Adaptation into a Forest Management Plan: A Case Study on the Research and Teaching Forest of Michigan Technological University

Abstract We incorporated climate adaptation into a forest management plan for Michigan Technological University’s Ford Forest, a 2,000-ha property in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula used for education, research, and timber revenues. Our process was an opportunity to test the existing climate adaptation literature, pulling from multiple sources to meet the diverse needs of the institution at the time the plan was created. We present outcomes as well as lessons learned summarized in a series of broad takeaway messages. (1) Climate adaptation is a means to an end. The end must be defined and is made up of critical values and an adapted state. (2) Given the instability inherent in climate change, achieving adaptation means adjusting forest attributes in response to change but also preparing for unforeseen outcomes via adaptive management. (3) Decisions surrounding goals affect the entire process. Considering climate change–driven constraints when setting goals will improve outcomes. (4) Flawed decision-making is a risk associated with certain organizational contexts and affects the identification of goals, vulnerabilities, and adaptation options. (5) Climate adaptation actions cannot be evaluated in the short term for efficacy because climate change is ongoing. However, the appropriateness of a plan in responding to anticipated change can be evaluated. Study Implications: This work informs strategic planning for climate change adaptation in forests. We created a climate-informed forest management plan using adaptation frameworks for a university-owned forest in Upper Michigan at the confluence of the northern hardwoods and boreal forest ecotypes. We offer assessment of our plan outcomes and insights into how our decision-making context affected them. This case study expands on the ongoing scientific conversation, incorporating concepts from management science, on how best to adapt natural systems to climate change to protect human values derived from ecosystem services.

Cost-effective biodiversity protection through multiuse-conservation landscapes

ContextIntensive land use and exploitation of natural resources are the main direct drivers of biodiversity loss. Transformative changes in land management are called for as conservation and management actions have not been sufficient to support the viability of species populations. It has been proposed that to solve the sufficiency problem one could segregate the landscape into an intensively managed part, and into so-called multiuse-conservation landscapes that aggregate set asides with managed areas for multiple uses.ObjectivesWe describe a scenario analysis where we evaluate the effects and cost-efficiency of transforming the boreal forest from intensively managed production landscapes progressively towards multiuse-conservation landscapes.MethodsWe simulated Finnish boreal forests under various managements and optimized management to produce six scenarios to reveal the ecological, economic, climate and management regime implications of multiuse-conservation landscapes. Ecological effects explored included habitat availability and metacommunity capacity of dead wood dependent species.ResultsIncreasing the area of set aside and multiuse management increased the habitat availability and metacommunity capacity as well as climate benefits but caused economic losses in terms of timber revenues. Pooling the set asides and multiuse management areas together into the same landscapes reduced the economic losses, had negligible added climate benefits and produced mixed biodiversity effects: pooling decreased habitat availability but increased metacommunity capacity across all landscapes.ConclusionsChanging land management and aggregating conservation efforts can be a cost-efficient way to protect biodiversity. Our results suggest biodiversity benefits in landscapes where the set aside and multiuse is aggregated. Careful spatial planning can also alleviate the conflicts between ecological and economic values of land.

Diversification of forest management can mitigate wind damage risk and maintain biodiversity

Mitigating future forest risks, safeguarding timber revenues and improving biodiversity are key considerations for current boreal forest management. Alternatives to rotation forestry likely have an important role, but how they will perform under a changing climate remains unclear. We used a boreal forest growth simulator to explore how variations on traditional clear-cutting, in rotation length, thinning intensity, and increasing number of remaining trees after final harvest (green tree retention), and on extent of continuous cover forestry will affect stand-level probability of wind damage, timber production, deadwood volume, and habitats for forest species. We used business-as-usual rotation forestry as a baseline and compared alternative management adaptations under the reference and two climate change scenarios. Climate change increased overall timber production and had lower impacts on biodiversity compared to management adaptations. Shortening the rotation length reduced the probability of wind damage compared to business-as-usual, but also decreased both deadwood volume and suitable habitats for our focal species. Continuous cover forestry, and management with refraining from thinnings, and extension of rotation length represent complementary approaches benefiting biodiversity, with respective effects of improving timber revenues, reducing wind damage risk, and benefiting old-growth forest structures. However, extensive application of rotation length shortening to mitigate wind damage risk may be detrimental for forest biodiversity. To safeguard forest biodiversity over the landscape, shortening of the rotation length could be complemented with widespread application of regimes promoting old-growth forest structures.

Financial Comparison of Afforestation Using Redwood and Radiata Pine within New Zealand for Regimes That Derive Value from Timber and Carbon

Carbon sequestration has become an important source of supplementary revenue from forest plantations. Although there are many financial comparisons of species based on timber revenue, there have been few regional comparisons that integrate revenue from carbon. Within New Zealand, radiata pine is the most widely planted species, but there has been a recent upsurge in planting rates for coast redwood. Under New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme, areas that are newly afforested under clear-fell rotational forestry receive carbon payments up to a set age, intended to represent the long-term average under successive rotations. Using growth models for both species, the objectives of this research were to regionally quantify (i) how the rotation length and the carbon averaging age influenced the profitability of growing redwood and (ii) compare carbon, timber yields, and profitability between radiata pine and redwood. The results showed the legislated carbon averaging age of 22 years for redwood underestimated the actual mid-points of carbon accumulation, which averaged 26, 28, and 31 years across rotation lengths of 40, 45, and 50 years, respectively. The optimal rotation length for redwood varied markedly by region and carbon price but was most often 40 years, increasing to 50 years at higher carbon prices, particularly for southern regions. Under regimes where revenue was only derived from timber, the redwood internal rate of return (IRR) exceeded that of radiata pine for eight of the nine New Zealand regions. When revenue was received from carbon and timber, redwood had a higher IRR than radiata pine up to carbon prices ranging from 29 to 50 NZD/tonne CO2 for the North Island and 23 to 34 NZD/tonne CO2 in all South Island regions apart from Otago. The IRR of radiata pine exceeded that of redwood at carbon prices above these values for the eight regions and at all carbon prices within the cold, dry Otago region.

Growth and decay: forest landowner impatience factor

From saplings to mature stems, trees grow into new log-size classes expanding in both timber volume and monetary value. Forestland financial decay becomes discernible when timber revenues are discounted to their present-day value. Net present value (NPV) calculations require application of a financial discount rate moderated against the forestland’s macroeconomic inflation rate. The discount rate is significantly determined by the forestland owner’s ‘impatience factor’ uniquely guiding timber harvest rotation timing for each forestland investor. The importance of appropriately defining the impatience factor is discussed in this manuscript. A 15.78 hectare (39.0-acre) forested parcel value is considered, as viewed through the impatience factor lens for various investor classes to appreciate observed variability in discounted asset values and how it influences timber harvest rotation timing. Natural resource managers, investors, and advisors may find the techniques described here helpful in their timber management financial decisions.

Storing More Carbon by Improving Forest Management in the Acadian Forest of New England, USA

The capacity of forests to store carbon, combined with time-tested approaches to managing forests, make forests a useful tool for atmospheric carbon mitigation. The primary goals of this study are to determine the amount of unrealized mitigation available from Improved Forest Management (IFM) in the Acadian Forest of New England in the northeastern U.S., and to demonstrate how this mitigation can feasibly be attained. This study used the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) to model the impacts of IFM practices articulated by the New England Forestry Foundation on carbon storage in the Acadian Forest. Our results, together with empirical data from well-managed forests, show that if the modeled improved management is employed on privately owned timberland across the Acadian Forest of New England, carbon storage could be increased by 488 Tg CO2e. Our financial modeling shows that IFM could be funded in this region by combining income from carbon markets with the philanthropic funding of conservation easements, timber revenues, and capital investments from private investors who prioritize social and economic goals alongside financial returns. This study adds to the body of evidence from around the world that the potential for managed forests to contribute to climate change mitigation has not been fully realized.

Pathways to win-wins or trade-offs? How certified community forests impact forest restoration and human wellbeing.

Certified community forests combine local governance with forest certification and aim to serve multiple objectives including forest protection, restoration, human wellbeing and equitable governance. However, the causal pathways by which they impact these objectives remain poorly understood. The ability of protected area impact evaluations to identify complex pathways is limited by a narrow focus on top-down theoretical, quantitative perspectives and inadequate consideration of local context. We used a novel mixed-methods research design that integrates the perspectives of multiple actors to develop a generalized conceptual model of the causal pathways for certified community forests. We tested the model using a combination of statistical matching, structural equation modelling and qualitative analyses for an agroforestry landscape in Tanzania. We found certified community forests positively impacted human wellbeing, equitable governance and forest restoration. Equitable governance had the largest impact on wellbeing, followed by crop yield and forest resource availability. Timber revenues varied widely between villages and the average effect of financial benefits did not impact wellbeing due to the immature stage of the certified timber market. We identified positive interactions and trade-offs between conservation and agriculture. Our findings suggest that no simple solution exists for meeting multiple objectives. However, developing understanding of the pathways linking social and conservation outcomes can help identify opportunities to promote synergies and mitigate negative impacts to reconcile competing objectives. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding forest landscaperestoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration'.

Integrating Habitat Quality of the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) in Forest Spatial Harvest Scheduling Problems

Biodiversity conservation has been broadly recognized in multi-objective forest management over the past decade. Nevertheless, habitat serves as one of the key influencing factors of biodiversity; while timber production and habitat quality are integrated into forest management operations, our knowledge about the trade-offs between the two is still limited. Thus, we formulated a habitat suitability index model for the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and developed a forest planning model that integrated timber revenue and habitat quality for a forest landscape in northeast China. We created three alternative management strategies, which spanned from timber benefit maximization to various management strategies restricted to differing amounts of suitable habitat. The results show that when the amount of suitable habitat comprised 39% to 65% of the landscape, this generated a 40.7% to 74.4% reduction in the total net present value, in comparison with the timber benefit maximization base scenario. The restriction of suitable habitat amount demands significantly decreased the total timber benefit in spatial planning problems. Our planning model provides an efficient approach to learning more about the trade-offs between timber production and wildlife habitat. Furthermore, the consideration of optimal habitat protection rather than increased habitat amount could be helpful for balancing targeting strategies among ecological and economic factors.

Improving forest management by implementing best suitable timber harvesting methods

Efficient forest operations are required for the provision of biodiversity and numerous ecosystem services, such as wood production, carbon sequestration, protection against natural hazards and recreation. In numerous countries, under difficult terrain conditions, the costs of forest management and harvesting are not covered by timber revenue. One possible option to increase the cost-effectiveness of the forestry sector is the application of state-of-the-art harvesting and extraction techniques, so-called best suitable harvesting methods. We present a case study from Switzerland, where a lack of competitiveness in the forestry sector is of particular interest, with the aim of quantifying the efficiency gains if estimated best suitable harvesting methods were to be rigorously applied instead of the currently applied harvesting methods. For this purpose, we developed a spatial decision support system to allocate estimated best suitable harvesting methods to plots, while concurrently considering hauling route limitations, extraction route properties and stand characteristics. Our approach was based on productivity models and supported with expert-defined decision trees. The evaluation of the estimated best suitable harvesting methods and the comparison with the currently applied harvesting methods were completed for all 6500 National Forest Inventory (NFI) plots in Switzerland. We draw the following three major conclusions from our study: First, our modeling approach is an effective method to allocate estimated best suitable harvesting methods to NFI plots. Second, applying estimated best suitable harvesting methods would lead to cost reductions, in particular in the regions that include steep terrain and where harvesting mainly relies on cable- and air based extraction methods. Third, assuming an average timber price of 75 CHF m −3, 64 % instead of 52 % of the forest area could be harvested economically over the whole country if estimated best suitable methods were applied. This advantage would mainly be caused by a shift towards more mechanized harvesting methods. Improving the cost-effectiveness of the forestry sector is of high global relevance, as the increased use of domestic timber resources is a cost-efficient way to reduce atmospheric carbon emissions. The methodological framework described here was developed for Switzerland in particular, but it could be applied to Central Europe and other parts of Europe with a large amount of mountain forests.

Optimal Carbon Storage in Mixed-Species Size-Structured Forests

We extend the study of economically optimal carbon storage to a previously unexplored forest type, mixed-species size-structured stands. The ecological model applied in the study is a transition matrix model with growth functions for boreal Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), birch (Betula pendula Roth and B. pubescens Ehrh.), and other broadleaves. The other broadleaved trees are assumed to have no commercial value. We maximize the sum of timber revenues and the value of carbon storage by optimizing the timing and intensity of thinnings and the potentially infinite rotation age. The optimization problem is solved in its general dynamic form using gradient-based interior point methods and a genetic algorithm. We present results for a mixed stand of Norway spruce and birch, and a mixed stand of Norway spruce, birch, and other broadleaves, and compare these to a pure Norway spruce stand. We show that carbon pricing increases stand volume by postponing harvests and limiting them to larger trees, and changes the optimal species composition by increasing the share of Norway spruce relative to birch. Further, carbon pricing incentivizes maintaining other broadleaves in the stand despite their lack of commercial value, thus increasing tree species diversity. We find that sawlog and total yields increase with carbon price. We show that the higher the number of tree species in a stand, the lower the marginal cost of carbon storage.

Financial Effects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners: A Comparative Study for 10 Southern States of the United States

Abstract Changes in tax codes applicable to timberland investments can affect tax treatment of timber revenues and expenses. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is regarded as the most expansive overhaul of tax codes in the United States since 1986; however, our understanding of its effects on timberland investments for family forest owners has yet to be explored. Using the discounted cash-flow method, we estimated and compared effects of TCJA on land expectation value (LEV) and net tax from managing timberland for two classifications of median-income family forest owners in 10 southern states. Results showed a decrease in LEV and net tax for both material participants and investors, with a greater effect on landowners managing timberland as investments. Thus, owning timberland can become less beneficial under the current law for median-income family forest landowners. Study Implications: Family forests occupy a large portion of the total forest area in the United States and provide various goods and services to society. Taxes and tax policies are regarded as important issues for these landowners because policies could ultimately influence timberland investment, ownership structure, and management activities. After the 2017 tax reform, landowners became concerned about the effect of the new act on profitability and financial return from timberland investment. Here, we attempt to provide a better understanding of tax effects by estimating change in net benefit of owning and managing timberland under the current law compared with the previous law in 10 southern states. For policymakers, this study can provide insight into the importance of considering unique characteristics of timberland investment during the tax policy design and evaluation process. For landowners, this study can facilitate the timberland investment decisionmaking process and serve as a guide to the effects of the new tax rules on returns.

Synergistic effects of wild ungulates and management intensification suppress native plants and promote exotics

In managed forest landscapes, conflicts among wood production, ungulates, native biodiversity, and exotic species are common. As humanity allocates more land as intensively managed plantations, these conflicts may become more severe. For instance, native ungulates have been implicated in the loss of native plant diversity, declines in timber revenues and the spread of exotic species in many forest systems, yet the synergistic effects of management and ungulate herbivory are not well understood.We hypothesized that herbicide and herbivore-induced suppression of native forage species promotes the release of exotic species in young forest plantations. Further, we expected herbivory and the retention of native forage via less intensive management would have negative consequences for reforestation objectives. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment that manipulated management intensity (via herbicides) and access of two deer species to vegetation (via exclosures) on 28 operational Douglas-fir plantations of the Pacific Northwest, USA. We recorded yearly plant species cover estimates and tested the effects of herbivory and herbicides on native and exotic plants during the first six years of plantation establishment.Heavier herbicide treatments reduced the cover and diversity of native plants, and increased the cover of exotics over time, particularly that of exotic herbaceous species. Regardless of herbicide intensity, herbivores reduced the cover of native forage species. In a treatment that represents operational standards applied to over 2.5 million ha in the region, the suppression of native species by deer corresponded with an increase in exotic species cover by 23 percent, resulting in equitable abundance of native and exotic plants. As expected, Douglas-fir growth was suppressed when herbivores were present and vegetation was left untreated by herbicides, although the presence of deer promoted both crop-tree growth and the relative abundance of exotics in our most intensive treatment, presumably due to the added suppression of native competitors.Our findings suggest that wild ungulates amplify management-driven shifts toward exotic species in intensively managed forest plantations. Exotic plant forage status and adaptations to frequent disturbance seem to be key mechanisms for the synergistic effects we observed. Without herbicides, diverse assemblages of native species are buffered from herbivory and exotic species proliferation, with potential tradeoffs for timber production. Our results highlight the role of management intensity in modifying the interactions among exotic plants and native herbivores, contributing to a mechanistic understanding of the role of native biodiversity in regulating exotic species spread. Our data provide further support for growing evidence that synergistic effects of multiple drivers can facilitate exotic plant proliferation.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: A Review-Based Framework for Better Harmonization of Timber Production, Biodiversity, and Recreation in Boreal Urban Forests

Forested lands serve multiple needs, and the priorities that go into balancing the competing demands can vary over time. In addition to being the source of timber and other natural resources, forested lands provide a number of other services such as biodiversity conservation and opportunities for outdoor recreation. While allocations that enhance conservation and recreation can involve expenses and lost revenue, mechanisms exist to provide landowners with incentives to make such contributions. Here, we review the literature and present a conceptual framework that can help landowners envision possible contributions towards bolstering outdoor recreation opportunities on their lands. The framework classifies forests within a simple conceptual space defined by two axes: (1) the spectrum of intensity of recreational use, and (2) the level of economic contribution required by landowners to meet recreational demands of visitors to their lands. The resulting matrix consists of four broad categories that can be used in forest management zoning as seen from an outdoor recreation perspective: general and special considerations for recreational opportunities and biodiversity, wilderness and nature reserves, and service areas. These categories have different tolerances for active silviculture and require shifting harvest practices spatially within the forest property. While timber revenues may decrease with shifting allocations, other sources of revenue may open up. With an increasingly urban population and rising demands for natural resources, it is prudent for landowners and land use planners to consider zoning their properties to better handle potential conflicts. The framework presented here provides a simple, structured approach to visualize future challenges and opportunities.

Ecosystem services and disservices of bear foraging on managed timberlands

AbstractThe literature on ecosystem services has been criticized for inadequately acknowledging culture values and for de‐emphasizing economic disservices. While economic loss due to tree damage by American black bears (Ursus americanus, hereafter bears) may negatively affect timber production, it also alters forest structure and habitat that may contribute to forest wildlife diversity, including culturally significant species. We examined the relationship between bear damage to Douglas‐fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) and response of cavity‐nesting birds on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. We measured disservices from bear damage by calculating current and future timber revenue loss, and ecosystem services by calculating forest structural complexity, abundance and diversity of cavity‐nesting birds, and woodpecker activity. Bear damage was correlated negatively with tree growth and positively with estimated timber loss. Forest structural complexity was positively correlated with bear damage, and cavity‐nester abundance and woodpecker foraging activity were positively correlated with forest structural complexity and bear damage. Pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) and red‐breasted sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus ruber) used bear‐damaged trees out of proportion to their availability, and pileated woodpeckers selected for more structurally complex sample units. Information from this study advances our understanding of the potential for bear foraging to negatively affect economic revenue and the trade‐offs with habitat conditions favoring other important wildlife species. Understanding the costs and benefits of bear damage can help guide management decisions vital to forest managers both on and off tribal lands.

Sustainability outcomes of teak plantation development in Dormaa, Ghana

Teak (Tectona grandis) plantation development in Ghana is an integral component of the National Forest Plantation Development Programme, a state-supported programme to conserve forests and sustain timber production for economic development, through refurbishing degraded forests and establishing new ones. The plantation development offers opportunity for understanding the sustainability outcomes of forest plantation development in environmental, social, economic, and political terms. With a case study of the Dormaa region in Ghana, this paper discusses how the sustainability of forest plantation development can be better appraised when target communities are considered heterogeneously. There is high state responsibility to the attainment of environmental and timber revenue goals from the teak plantations. However, there are social and political difficulties that confront different farmers but these difficulties are not emphasized for redress in the management of the plantations. To this end, this paper contends that teak plantation development in Dormaa is only partially successful in terms of its sustainability. The paper calls for an inductive approach to plantation development in Ghana that recognises the heterogeneity of the community of people affected, and which addresses the different conditions and possible implications of forest management for equitable benefits from the forests for all categories of people.

An Optimal Management Strategy of Carbon Forestry with a Stochastic Price

An analysis for the value of carbon forestry needs to be provided for the successful establishment of the carbon offset market in Korea. We present an optimal management strategy for a forest owner who participates in the offset market. Given a stochastic process of the timber price following a geometric Brownian motion, the profit maximization problem of the forest owner is solved. The model finds an optimal harvest time in the presence of the carbon and timber revenues with opposing time effects. Sensitivity analysis is performed with respect to the volatility rate of the timber price and the discount rate. The presented model is applied to the study of the Korean larch case to identify the threshold timber price above which it is optimal to harvest trees.

Trees are all around us: Farmers' management of wood pastures in the light of a controversial policy

Wood pastures are some of the most species-rich environments found in Europe and therefore essential habitats for biodiversity conservation. Society also puts faith in multiple values of trees, ranging from climate change mitigation to socio-cultural traditions. Therefore, the seemingly arbitrary tree density limit for pasture environments imposed by the EU through its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) threatened both biological and societal values. In this study on farmers' perspectives, we target the effects of the CAP tree density limit on management of wood pastures in a low-intensively managed agricultural landscape of southern Sweden. The case of simplifying nature by using simple number limitations was used as an entry point in semi-structured, open-ended, interviews with farmers and officials about their view on trees and pasture management in relation to policy directives. The interviews showed that the policy incentive shifted the management focus from grazing quality to the number of trees and that farmers are willing to cut in order to get subsidies and timber revenues, however not unreflectingly. Farmers had high knowledge about the wide ranging social, cultural and natural values of trees, and are often themselves as good regulators of tree management as policies intend to be. Our study reveals many difficulties in managing the complex relations within landscapes with simplified legal measures, opening up for further discussion about improving policy instruments to preserve both social and biological values of wood pastures. However, although the tree density limit has been criticised on many points related to biodiversity conservation, this study shows that other values linked to pasture trees, e.g. the aesthetic values and their importance as shelter for grazing animals, could be an argument to actually keep the focus on trees as indicators of pasture management quality. We suggest that trees in general and wood-pastures in particular therefore are good starting points, or boundary-objects, for collaboration between production and conservation interests of farming and environmental management.

An analysis of pest risk and potential economic impact of pine wilt disease to Pinus plantations in Australia

ABSTRACTPine wilt disease, caused by the Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (pinewood nematode), has caused extensive damage to Pinus forests where it has invaded countries with susceptible hosts and with co-occurring native species of the cerambycid beetle Monochamus. A pest risk analysis showed that there is a moderate likelihood of pinewood nematode and its primary vector, M. alternatus (Japanese pine sawyer beetle), arriving, establishing and spreading in Australia, and impacting Pinus plantations. Based on our climatic analysis, subtropical and Mediterranean climates in Australia are moderately-to-highly likely to be suitable for M. alternatus, but temperate regions may not be suitable. We present a scenario where pine wilt disease establishes in commercial Pinus plantations in south-east Queensland, spreads and causes significant tree mortality. The economic analysis suggested substantial losses in plantation timber revenue arising from tree mortality due to pine wilt disease, even at low probabilities of establishment and low rates of spread and mortality. For example, assuming chance of establishment is 5% y−1, spread rate is 1 km y−1, tree mortality rate is 20% and a 5% discount rate, the expected present value of plantation timber revenue losses in south-east Queensland is AU$6.9 million. This translates into high expected benefits from biosecurity programs, and indicates that it would be economically efficient to spend up to AU$0.345 million y−1 on biosecurity to keep pine wilt disease from establishing in south-east Queensland.

Toward "Concessions 2.0": articulating inclusive and exclusive management in production forests in Central Africa

Industrial forest concessions cover about 45 million hectares in Central Africa. This paper discusses the weaknesses of the current concession model and initiatives for helping it evolve; it then proposes a new type of concession, entitled 'Concessions 2.0', adapted to the future challenges presented by the overlapping among the rights and modes of the harvesting of multiple resources. This proposed model is based on four features: (i) mapping and recognition of the customary territories within and around the industrial concession, (ii) timber revenue sharing indexed on the extension of the customary territories and contractual management agreements within the communities, (iii) allowance of commercial exploitation of non-timber resources by entitled claimers under the supervision and/or in association with the concessionaire, and (iv) inclusive governance for the management of overlapping rights over the concession area. (Resume d'auteur)

An Incremental Economic Analysis of Establishing Early Successional Habitat for Biodiversity

Early successional habitat (ESH) is an important component of natural landscapes and is crucial to maintaining biodiversity. ESH also impacts endangered species. The extent of forest disturbances resulting in ESH has been diminishing, and foresters have developed timber management regimes using standard silvicultural techniques that enhance ESH. We developed a financial framework to evaluate these ESH-enhancing forest management regimes, driven by differences in timber harvest costs and timber revenue. The economic model was applied to on-the-ground prescriptions in the Nantahala National Forest (NNF) designed to increase biodiversity and foster improved public awareness of the importance of ESH. Bats, a current conservation concern, commonly exploit ESH and were the focus of our prescriptions. The prescriptions were based on shelterwood cuts of varying patch size, spacing between the cuts, and the trail area required to move from patch to patch. The results showed that prescriptions with large patch areas were effective in increasing ESH, with minimal impact on the financial performance of timber harvesting operations. This information can be used to minimize financial losses while catering to wildlife species that prefer ESH, in addition to increasing overall biodiversity.