Sustainability & Economics. Jacek Siry & Bob Izlar Center for Forest Business Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia

Transcription

1 Sustainability & Economics Jacek Siry & Bob Izlar Center for Forest Business Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia 2015 SESAF Annual Meeting, St. Simons Island, January 25-27, 2015

2 Global Forest Issues Deforestation 13 million ha per year converted to other uses Net loss 5 million ha per year Degradation Wood supply Biodiversity loss Environmental services Climate change mitigation

3 Sustainability: Contemporary Perspective

4 Sustainable Development Concept The Club of Rome The Limits to Growth (1972) & search for a world system: sustainable without sudden and uncontrolled collapse and capable of satisfying the basic material requirements of all of its people

5 UN World Commission On Environment And Development Our Common Future (1987) (the Brutland Report ) Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

6 The Earth Summit UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992) Rio Declaration Agenda 21 Forestry Principles Legally binding agreements Convention on Biological Diversity Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) UN Convention to Combat Desertification

7 Forestry Principles Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests Montreal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Contemporary Forest Certification

8 Forest Area Certified (UNEP) 292 million ha; 7% of world forests

9 Sustainability: Forestry Perspective

10 Sustainable management principles formulated in the medieval ages (1330) Von Carlowitz s (1713) Economics of silviculture: instructions for cultivating wild trees Nach-haltig-keit (After-maintain-property of)

11 Maximum Sustained Yield (MSY)

12 Maximum Sustained Yield (MSY) Timber volume scheduled Harvest level Normal forest model (Fully regulated forest) Area control methods Volume control methods Year Non-declining Even Flow (NDEF) American Tree Farm System (1942)

13 Sustainability: Economic Perspective

14 Efficiency Society getting the most it can from its scarce resources Resource allocation maximizing social wellbeing (welfare) No waste Market economy allocates resources through decentralized decisions of many producers and consumers

15 Forest Production Cycle

16 Net Present Value (NPV) & Bare Land Value (BLV)

17 Comparison Of MSY & Economic Rotation (BLV) Economic rotations are typically shorter Rising timber prices will shorten rotations and increase management effort (and vice versa) Example: Permanent harvest reduction in PNW Higher prices in the US South Shorter rotation and higher management efforts You see more pine plantations

18 Sustainability: Real World Perspective

19 Measuring Sustainability Production Managed Covered by forest management plan Self reported, and perhaps dubious Protected Legal protection as park or reserve Still laws stronger than enforcement Certified Environmental NGO or forest industry Strongest standards and surety Environmental regulation

20 Roundwood Production Source: FRA 2010 Industrial Roundwood 1.8 billion cu m; 59% Fuelwood 1.6 billion cu m; 41%

21 Source: FRA 2010 US In World Context

22 Environmental Regulation 0 (least strict) 10 (most strict) 9 Alberta, Russia, US Forest Service 8 Ontario, Quebec 7 Indonesia, Poland 6 Chile, New Zealand 5 Brazil, South Africa 4 Sweden, Finland 3 Japan 0 U.S. South Source: Cashore and McDermott 2004

23 From Moscow To London Syndrome

24 Who Is In Charge??? Who is in charge of the supply of bread to the population of London?" Decentralized systems can perform as well as centralized systems in forest resource management

25 Sustainability & Economics: The Connection

26 Forest Plans Of North America

27 Forest Plans Of North America Discussion and Conclusions Sustainability Issues Plan Implementation Challenges

28 Plan Implementation Challenges Forest activity is funded almost exclusively by revenue from timber harvesting (Arcata CF, CA) Family forests incur property taxes are often pressured to be converted to other uses (Ross Forests, TN) Main challenge is related to certification restrictions for harvest sizes (Chesapeake FL, MD) Economics is often regarded as separate from technical aspects of forestry (Durango State University Forest, Mexico) Increasing and more costly regulation (Mission Municipal Forest, BC, Canada) Top three things that would help are higher prices, lower costs, and lower property taxes (Sessoms Timber Trust, GA) Needs to be a self-sustaining endeavor that is based on timber sales (Revelstoke Community Forest: TFL 56, BC, Canada) Plans were modified to adapt to severe market downturn (Weyerhaeuser, NC) Funding for prescribed burning was severely reduced (Yakama Reservation, WA) The most significant issue is the current health of the forest products sector (Whitefeather Forest, ON, Canada)

29 Conclusions

30 Sustainability Versus (???) Efficiency

31 U.S. South In World Context Source: FAO 2010

32 US South Is World s Leader In Forest Conservation