Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Planning is a very important part of forest management. In forestry, rational planning is needed
for the effective use of forest resources for economic, ecologic, and social values. This study
deals with tactical planning, especially with selecting stands for clear-cuts in Russia. At the
tactical level, the problem of planning logging areas has two components: which stand to choose
and when to cut it. This study shows how an economic way of planning can be introduced in
Russia. A criterion for choosing stands for clear-cuts is indicator percent, which is used in
Sweden on a wide scale. The work was done in a forest area, which is situated in Northwest
Russia in the Republic of Karelia. Stands for clear-cutting were chosen according to all Russian
rules of logging and indicator percent. Results of suggested plan were compared with actual
clear-cuts made by a logging company in this area. Comparison was made for: harvested levels,
indicator percents, net values and net values per one cubic meter of timber. The comparison
showed that suggested plan was better than what had been done before in this area, but the
difference was not significant. The discussion part is answering the following questions: a) why
the difference in results is small? b) What could affect the results that were received? and c) what
kind of problems can there be with introducing this way of planning in the Russian Federation?