Strategic criteria for compensating Natura areas

Allan Sims, Allar Padari

Forest produces different goods

• In addition to management goods, a forest contains and helps to:– clear water – clear air– protect against erosion– protect shore and coast– old trees– habitats for

• birds• animals• rare plants

– recreation areas– etc.

Compensation

• Management restrictions in Natura areas do not allow forest owners to get a profit as much as in unrestricted forest

• Compensation is necessary to support forest owners for producing public goods

• In addition to management goods, there exists Natura areas for people are willing to pay

Forest and its owner

• The forest owner gets compensation in managed forest through management profit for producing public goods

• In restricted forest the owner produce public goods by own costs, if there exists no compensation

COMPENSATIONCurrent method

Method for compensation

– The forest owner gets: • 110 €/ha, if forest area is strictly protected or • 60 €/ha for other protected forest area

Properties of the method

Disadvantage

• Forest areas have different values, but the method does not consider that

Advantage

• Simple to use

COMPENSATIONProposal

Method for compensation

– Method should consider compensation value through forest value:

• Compensation value should be calculated as predictable profit from forest.

Profit calculation

• Profit depends on site productivity:

– Forest site type, which shows potential tree species for the site

– Site index, which shows wood productivity for the site

Profit calculation

• Forest productivity is calculated by long term forest growth simulation, where:– stand mean height,– stand mean diameter,– stand age,– stand volume and– density

• are used.

Profit calculation

• Forest growth is simulated with mathematical growth equations with one year steps

• In simulation for every year is considered thinning necessity and applied if „needed“.

• Growth is simulated until final felling

Profit calculation

• After simulation it is calculated sum of timber assortments from thinnings and final felling

• All assortments are divided into total growth period

• Thus, we can find potential forest productivity for the site

Profit calculation

• Income is calculated by multiplying assortments values with amount of assortments (e.g. RMK mean values)

• Outcome is expenses for felling and forest regeneration

• A result is mean profit per year, which is mean annual money damage for a forest owner

Profit calculation

• According to this method, money damage range is 0 – 220 €/ha.

• Thus, for some forest owners, who's forests are in fertile areas, the compensation differences are big.

• Proposed method is simple to use, because forest inventory data are available and it is on matter of calculation

Forest produces different goods

• In addition to management goods, a forest contains and helps to:– clear water – clear air– protect against erosion– protect shore and coast– old trees– habitats for

• birds• animals• rare plants

– recreation areas– etc.

Summary

• Natura areas have values and there are willing to pay

• Forest owners should not have money damages for owning such forest

• Today exists the method to compensate, but it is inflexible and does not consider site productivity

• A compensation method should be more an owner frendly and it is quite simple to apply

Thank you for your attention!