Browsing by discipline "Forest Economics"

The objective of this thesis is to assess the recreational value (access value) provided by Yuelu Mountain Park in China applying travel cost method (TCM) which is commonly used to estimate non-market benefits. Also, a fee that would maximize the entrance fee income is tentatively calculated. The potential trips to be lost next year are estimated based on local respondents visiting intentions among different age groups. The travel cost demand function is estimated by using basic count data travel cost model-Poisson regression, and survey data collected on-site. Average access values per trip were estimated to be € 0.75 for local and € 64.52 for non-local individuals producing aggregate annual access value of € 20.43 million. Based on the travel cost demand function, an entrance fee of € 5.43 would maximize the revenue collected from the visitors. This would mean more than doubling of the present entrance fee. The result could potentially be utilized when deciding on the entrance fees. It is also suggested that the park management could further study visitors' intentions and reasons either to visit or not to visit the park in the future. Estimated consumer surpluses as well as suggested entrance fee must however, be considered with caution because truncation of the on-site survey data is not accounted for in the Poisson model estimations of this study.

The European Union has emphasized the usage of bioenergy by increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption in its member states. The more biomass is utilized in energy production, the more biomass ashes are produced. Different ashes such as wood ash have been studied ecologically a lot, but more business and market research should be conducted on wood ash. The purpose of this study is to describe, analyze and interpret ash fertilization stakeholders´ perceptions of their external environment. The research questions are the following: 1) How do the ash fertilization stakeholders perceive their external environment? 2) What barriers hinder wood ash fertilization? 3) How is wood ash recycling perceived to influence the stakeholders´ external environment? 4) What kind of Environmental Scanning practices do the stakeholders have? This study is a qualitative study which employs the guided/focused interview method. The data consists of 18 interviews conducted in 15 organizations. The approach to the data is abductive. The data is processed, described and analyzed thematically. The ash fertilization stakeholders consider their environment complex and not fully developed. The waste tax act has influenced the structure of the market and worked as a major push-force. It has created various business models in the external environment, which have made some stakeholders adopt an unorthodox code of conduct within the external environment. Few fertilization-based companies operate on ash fertilization. Instead, most of the stakeholders emphasize wood ash utilization. The logistical challenges including the high transport and spreading costs were considered the most influential barrier hindering ash fertilization usage. However, the creation of economically sustainable business models and the incapability to create value to the customer hinder the development of the market, which weakens the competitiveness of ash fertilizers. Other barriers identified were the lack of suitable ashes for fertilization, the insufficient knowledge level of the buyers as well as poor marketing communications. There seems to be an entry barrier to the ash fertilization market, which consists of the low profitability of the ash fertilization business and the high knowledge requirements. Ash recycling was perceived positively by the stakeholders although their knowledge of the concept varied significantly. They connected ash recycling with either nutrient flows or ash utilization as a raw-material for various end-uses. The implementation of ash recycling was regarded as questionable since the stakeholders were uncertain about its effects on the external environment. They considered ash recycling to be influenced by the development of energy policies and legislation both in Finland and in the EU, which they found unpredictable. The stakeholders had difficulty defining ash recycling as a process and perceiving whether it is more connected with forest or energy industries. The majority of the stakeholders did not conduct Environmental Scanning (ES). Only four stakeholders conducted ES, although this perception is interpretive. The stakeholders were categorized in ES modes according to their perceptions of external environmental intrusiveness, analyzability as well as information needs, information seeking and information use. The degree of complexity of the external environment was found high and the rate of change was considered low. Altogether, there are two stakeholder groups operating in the external environment: 1) the market-oriented stakeholders and 2) the utilization/waste oriented stakeholders. The utilization view is currently more dominant, due to the developments in the ash fertilization market. The external environment is still under the stage of development, and there is possible future rivalry between the two views. Ash recycling could be a viable option combining wood ash utilization with business. More market-oriented stakeholders are needed in the ash fertilization market.

Forestry is a hazardous industry globally. Physical conditions, legal frameworks and cultural norms can vary from country to country leading to different approaches to site safety management. There are international, national and regional legislation and guidelines which outline normative approaches land managers can utilise to protect forestry machine operators and the public from accident or injury. In this study, the approaches the health and safety management in forestry operations are assessed in two countries within the European Union –Scotland (as part of the UK member state) and Finland. While both countries practice sustainable forest management, it is shown that this is carried out under different legal frameworks leading to differences in approach to site safety planning. Other factors are shown to have an effect including cultural factors and land ownership patterns.

The conundrum between market entry and business development activities within innovation companies is generally regarded as a challenge. The energy industry as a whole is in a flux and the sustainable future requires drastic actions to be taken to reduce the effects of the global warming and in adaptation of a circular economy model. Using the industrial innovation company St1 Biofuels Oy as a case, this thesis will identify the decision-making components of an opportunity based target market analysis in a company, which operates in an industry with notable resource scarcity, policy regulations and variable business models. In response to this hypothesis, this study suggests an opportunity based target market analysis model that illustrates a new framework to study target markets in a systematic and analytical manner. For the purpose of the case with St1 Biofuels Oy, a market intelligence tool was created to store and process the market data and illustrate the most essential components of the theoretical model. The case study demonstrates the utilization of the opportunity model presenting the internationalization criteria and justification to a potential new R&D concept investment decision. The implications of this thesis contribute to the decision-making of the case and aid in demonstrating analytical justification for internationalization on a strategic decision-making level. This thesis introduces relevant literature to the topic and reflects the existing theories to the new model concept design. Structure and empiric base in this study were drawn together from two-stage data collection, including extensive market research and investment calculations along with semi-structured interviews with the specialists of the case company. The results of this thesis present a theoretical model and the functioning of the model is then piloted with the case study variables of St1 Biofuels Oy. Based on the discussion in this thesis, further research is suggested reflecting the model as a theoretical framework in strategic marketing planning and value-based selling studies.

The aim of this study was to compare the differences between forest management incorporating energy wood thinning and forest management based on silvicultural recommendations (baseline). Energy wood thinning was substituted for young stand thinning and the first commercial thinning of industrial wood. The study was based on the forest stand data from Southern Finland, which were simulated by the MOTTI-simulator. The main interest was to find out the climatic benefits resulting from carbon sequestration and energy substitution. The value of energy wood was set to substitute it for coal as an alternative energy fuel (emission trade). Other political instruments (Kemera subsidies) were also analysed. The largest carbon dioxide emission reductions were achieved as a combination of carbon sequestration and energy substitution (on average, a 26-90 % increase in discounted present value in the beginning of rotation) compared to the baseline. Energy substitution increased emission reductions more effectively than carbon sequestration, when maintaining dense young stands. According to the study, energy wood thinning as a part of forest management was more profitable than the baseline when the value of carbon dioxide averaged more than 15 €/CO2 and other political subsidies were unchanged. Alternatively, the price of energy wood should on average exceed 21 €/m3 on the roadside in order to be profitable in the absence of political instruments. The most cost-efficient employment of energy wood thinning occured when the dominant height was 12 meters, when energy substitution was taken into account. According to alternative forest management, thinning of sapling stands could be done earlier or less intensely than thinning based on silvicultural recommendations and the present criteria of subsidies. Consequently, the first commercial thinning could be profitable to carry out either as harvesting of industrial wood or energy wood, or as integrated harvesting depending on the costs of the harvesting methods available and the price level of small-size industrial wood compared to energy wood.

Forest carbon offset projects have been growing vigorously in China in the last ten years. It is necessary to form an overall picture of the projects, to analyze the quality of their development processes, and to shed light on the development of upcoming projects. In order to evaluate their development process, a framework of assessment was built up and applied in practical project assessment. In this thesis, firstly, the situation of the global carbon markets and Chinese forest carbon offset projects was introduced. Especially, different international and domestic carbon accounting and other carbon related standards were presented and compared. Secondly, the previous studies about the assessment of sustainable development impacts of the forestry carbon projects were reviewed; the approaches and indicators were compared and summarized. Then, in combination with checklists and multi-criteria approaches, a new assessment framework was established, consisting of a set of indicators and a four-level scoring system. Finally, 16 Chinese forestry projects which have applied different carbon standards were evaluated with this assessment framework. Their performances were compared and analyzed, the characteristics of standards were also compared. According to the results of the assessment, the successfully registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects gained higher scores, suggesting their development processes were of higher quality. The projects applying Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) in pair with another carbon accounting standard also tended to get higher scores, indicating the positive effect of CCBS on the consideration of sustainable co-benefits. The international standards are stricter than domestic standards, which can be seen from the comprehensiveness and meticulousness of the Project Design Documents (PDDs). The result of the assessment corresponds to the previous understanding about the projects and standards, which supports the validity of the assessment framework.

Purpose of this thesis is to estimate the carbon sequestration potential in eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay. This study also aims to show how beneficial these plantations are for carbon sinks. The aim of this research is calculate total carbon balance in eucalyptus plantations and compare the results to degraded lands. This study is first-of-its-kind study in Uruguay, but not unique globally. The objective was to use a modeling approach to formulate the results. The methodology of this study is based to the dynamic growth model (CO2fix V3.1). Model is developed to calculate and estimate forest carbon fluxes and stocks. In this study the model was utilized for estimating how much carbon is sequestered in eucalyptus plantations and soils. In this thesis the model was used to simulate eucalyptus forest plantations that stem from numerous studies and different data. Ad hoc Excel model was generated to form calculated results from the simulated data. A separate sensitivity analysis is also formulated to reveal a possible different outcome. The framework is based on a stand-level inventory data of forestry plantations provided by the Ministry of Uruguay (MGAP) and companies. Also multiple scientific reports and previous studies were used as guidelines for simulations and results. The forest stand, yield, soil and weather data used for this study are from three different departments. There are over 700 000 hectares of different species of eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay. The theoretical framework was tested computationally with eleven simulations. CO2fix was parameterized for fast-growing eucalyptus species used in different parts of Uruguay. The model gave outputs per hectare and then this result was scaled up to the national level. This study will also estimate how much grassland (Pampa) and former pasture land could sequester carbon. Situation prior to plantation is a baseline scenario and it is compared to the expected carbon sequestration of plantations. The model is also used to calculate the effect of changing rotation length on carbon stocks of forest ecosystem (forest vegetation and soil) and wood products. The results of this study show that currently the 707,674 hectares of eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay have the potential to sequester 65 million tonnes of carbon and reduce 238 million tonnes of CO2. The calculated carbon storage is 38 and simulated 25 million tonnes of C, products are deducted from the equation. During 22 years (1990–2012) the annual carbon sequestration benefit (afforestation-baseline) without products is 1 757 847 Mg C. The results suggest that it is reasonable to establish eucalyptus plantations on degraded, grassland (Pampa) and abandoned pasture land. The implications of the results are that eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay actually enhance carbon sequestration, are carbon sinks and store more carbon than grassland and abandoned pasture land. Plantations have a vast sequestration potential and are important in mitigating of CO2 emission and effects of the climate change. The findings endorse the significance of plantations to increase carbon sinks and this role will broaden in the future. The most relevant findings of this study are that afforestation increases the soil carbon in 10-year rotation plantations by 34% (101.1>75.6) and in 12-year rotation 38% (104.4>75.6 Mg Cha-1) in a 60-year simulation. The net (afforestation-baseline) average carbon stock benefit in the soil is 25.5 Mg C ha?1 in a 60-year simulation. The (CO2Fix) model indicate that the total average carbon sequestration for eucalyptus plantations is 92.3 Mg Cha?1. The average total carbon storage ranges from 25.8–138.5 Mg Cha?1 during a 60-year simulation. The simulations show that the net annual carbon storage in the living biomass is 29.1, 25.5 (soil) and 37.6 Mg C (products) on the average scenario. There is some fluctuation in the sequestration results in other 10 simulations. Previous studies have showed that the average carbon stock for eucalyptus plantations varies from 30–60 Mg C ha-1, when soil and products are deducted. The capacity of forest ecosystems to sequester carbon in the long run could be even more strengthened if a rotation length increases. Extending rotation from 10 to 12 years increased the average soil carbon stock from 25.5 to 28.8 Mg C (by 13%) in 60 year simulation. The results also indicate that mean annual precipitation (MAP) alters the carbon sinks of the forest ecosystem. There are some limitations in this study and they are clearly explained and analyzed. Hence, most of the results are estimations. Ministry and companies need to prolong planting of trees and even intensify annual programs in order to achieve carbon sequestration targets. Further research is needed to get an estimate of the total forest ecosystem carbon storages and fluxes.

The study compared the differences between the harvesting measurements of the harvester and the forwarder and compared these with the results of the factory measurements. The study was conducted for a Finnish forest industry company. Four different measuring points were defined for the research: harvester measurement, forwarder load scale measurement, logging truck load scale measurement and factory measurement. The study included four harvest and transport companies, who made the measurements. Specific cutting areas were defined for each of the entrepreneurs and they filled the results obtained on the separate forms. The number of measurement results collected in the study was lower than the target. However, based on the results obtained, it can be stated that the harvesting measurement gives a larger measurement result than the load scale measurement of forwarder. Based on the study, it was not possible to determine whether the geographical position of the cutting area, the forest type or the type of felling affect the measurement accuracy. The study calculated the cost impact of the measurement differences caused by the measurement of the harvester and the forwarder at the national level.

The purpose of this study was to examine the integrated climatic impacts of forestry and the use fibre-based packaging materials. The responsible use of forest resources plays an integral role in mitigating climate change. Forests offer three generic mitigation strategies; conservation, sequestration and substitution. By conserving carbon reservoirs, increasing the carbon sequestration in the forest or substituting fossil fuel intensive materials and energy, it is possible to lower the amount of carbon in the atmosphere through the use of forest resources. The Finnish forest industry consumed some 78 million m3 of wood in 2009, while total of 2.4 million tons of different packaging materials were consumed that same year in Finland. Nearly half of the domestically consumed packaging materials were wood-based. Globally the world packaging material market is valued worth annually some €400 billion, of which the fibre-based packaging materials account for 40 %. The methodology and the theoretical framework of this study are based on a stand-level, steady-state analysis of forestry and wood yields. The forest stand data used for this study were obtained from Metla, and consisted of 14 forest stands located in Southern and Central Finland. The forest growth and wood yields were first optimized with the help of Stand Management Assistant software, and then simulated in Motti for forest carbon pools. The basic idea was to examine the climatic impacts of fibre-based packaging material production and consumption through different forest management and end-use scenarios. Economically optimal forest management practices were chosen as the baseline (1) for the study. In the alternative scenarios, the amount of fibre-based packaging material on the market decreased from the baseline. The reduced pulpwood demand (RPD) scenario (2) follows economically optimal management practices under reduced pulpwood price conditions, while the sawlog scenario (3) also changed the product mix from packaging to sawnwood products. The energy scenario (4) examines the impacts of pulpwood demand shift from packaging to energy use. The final scenario follows the silvicultural guidelines developed by the Forestry Development Centre Tapio (5). The baseline forest and forest product carbon pools and the avoided emissions from wood use were compared to those under alternative forest management regimes and end-use scenarios. The comparison of the climatic impacts between scenarios gave an insight into the sustainability of fibre-based packaging materials, and the impacts of decreased material supply and substitution. The results show that the use of wood for fibre-based packaging purposes is favorable, when considering climate change mitigation aspects of forestry and wood use. Fibre-based packaging materials efficiently displace fossil carbon emissions by substituting more energy intensive materials, and they delay biogenic carbon re-emissions to the atmosphere for several months up to years. The RPD and the sawlog scenarios both fared well in the scenario comparison. These scenarios produced relatively more sawnwood, which can displace high amounts of emissions and has high carbon storing potential due to the long lifecycle. The results indicate the possibility that win-win scenarios exist by shifting production from pulpwood to sawlogs; on some of the stands in the RPD and sawlog scenarios, both carbon pools and avoided emissions increased from the baseline simultaneously. On the opposite, the shift from packaging material to energy use caused the carbon pools and the avoided emissions to diminish from the baseline. Hence the use of virgin fibres for energy purposes, rather than forest industry feedstock biomass, should be critically judged if optional to each other. Managing the stands according to the silvicultural guidelines developed by the Forestry Development Centre Tapio provided the least climatic benefits, showing considerably lower carbon pools and avoided emissions. This seems interesting and worth noting, as the guidelines are the current basis for the forest management practices in Finland.

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan valtioneuvoston 12.2.2015 hyväksymää Suomen kansallista metsäohjelmaa “Kansallinen met-sästrategia 2025” Metsästrategian vuoteen 2050 tähtäävä visio on: “Metsien kestävä hoito ja käyttö on kasvavan hyvinvoinnin läh-de”. Metsästrategian tavoitteena on voimakas puuntuotannon lisääminen ja samanaikaisesti toimien ekologinen kestävyys on asetettu edellytykseksi puuntuotannon lisäämiselle. Lisäksi vision mukaisen metsistä saatavan hyvinvoinnin kasvattamisen to-detaan olevan riippuvainen metsän eri käyttötarpeiden yhteensovittamisesta. Metsien käytön ekologisen ja sosiaalisen kes-tävyyden edistämisen voidaan siis käsittää olevan metsästrategiassa yhtäläisiä tavoitteita metsien taloudellisesti kestävän käytön kanssa. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan strategian puuntuotannollisten tavoitteiden kestävyyttä, kestävyysajattelun kehittymistä, painottuen taloudellisen ja ekologisen kestävyyden tarkasteluun, sekä ajattelun siirtymistä käytäntöön. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa lähdetään liikkeelle strategian tavoitteiden mukaisen puuntuotannon lisäämisen vaikutuksista. Ensinnäkin tarkastellaan, mihin tekijöihin puuntuotannolliset tavoitteet perustuvat, odotetun kysynnän ja hakkuumahdollisuuksien valossa. Toiseksi, tarkastellaan voidaanko puuntuotantoa lisäämällä saavuttaa suunniteltuja ilmastohyötyjä ja kolmanneksi, tarkastellaan puuntuotannon lisäämisen vaikutuksia metsäluonnon monimuotoisuuteen. Toisessa osassa tutkimusta tarkastellaan ensin kuinka kestävyys ymmärretään kirjallisuudessa ja toisaalta, kuinka kestävyyden mittarit on määritelty strategiassa. Toiseksi, esitettyjen mittareiden perusteella arvioidaan metsästrategian strategisten hankkeiden kohdistumista kestävyyden eri osa-alueisiin sekä tarkastellaan erikseen puuntuotannon lisäämiseen ja metsien monimuotoisuuden turvaamiseen tähtääviä hankkeita. Lopulta, tarkastellaan valtion tukien kohdistumisen suhteellista ja absoluuttista muutosta puun tuotannossa sekä metsien monimuotoisuuden turvaamisessa Historiallisesti Suomen metsien kestävää käyttöä on ohjannut ajatus puuntuotannollisesta kestävyydestä ja kuutiomäärän maksimoinnista metsätalouden kannattavuuden mittareina. Suurimman yhteiskunnallisen hyvinvoinnin saavuttamiseksi tulisi kannattavuuden tarkastelussa kuitenkin taloustieteen mukaisesti kiinnittää huomiota taloudellisiin suureisiin, kuten hintaan, kustannuksiin ja korkokantaan. Tarkasteluun tulisi metsien käytön osalta sisällyttää myös metsien markkinattomat hyödyt, kuten metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja metsien hiilinielut sekä muut metsien käyttöön liittyvät arvostukset. Strategian kestävyysajattelu on tässä mielessä kehittynyt edeltäjiinsä nähden, sillä se tunnistaa kilpailulliset markkinat, joilla markkinoita tasapainotetaan kohdistamalla julkinen ohjaus markkinattomiin julkishyödykkeisiin, edellytyksenä metsätalouden kannattavuudelle. Toisaalta, puun tuotannon maksimointi nähdään edelleen tärkeänä tekijänä kansantalouden kannattavuuden mittaamisessa. Tämä aiheuttaa jo lähtökohtaisesti sen tilanteen, että puuvarojen optimaalista käyttöä arvioitaessa sivuutetaan muut kuin puuntuotannolliset hyödyt. Lisäksi ajatus siitä, ettei puuntuotannon kansantaloudellinen kannattavuus vastaa sen yksityistaloudellista kannattavuutta, aiheuttaa tilanteen jossa kilpailullisiin markkinoihin voidaan puuttua muuten kuin taloustieteellisin perustein. Puuntuotannon maksimoiminen kansantaloudellisen kestävyyden mittarina ei siis edistä kilpailullisten markkinoiden syntymistä tai yksityismetsätalouden kannattavuutta. Ilmastonäkökulmasta metsien lisääntynyt hyödyntäminen ei vähennä ilmakehän hiilidioksidia halutulla tarkastelujaksolla. Lisäksi toimiin liittyvät epävarmuudet vaarantavat sekä toiminnan taloudellisen että ekologisen kestävyyden. Monimuotoisuudelle lisään-tyvien hakkuiden todetaan metsästrategiassa edustavan uhkatekijää. Esitetyt toimenpiteet eivät kuitenkaan edistä metsäluonnon monimuotoisuuden tilan kehittymistä ainakaan lähivuosina ja strategiassa suuri painoarvo laitetaankin METSO-suojeluohjelman onnistumiselle. Kokonaisuudessaan metsästrategian toimenpiteet kohdistuvat 2020-luvulle, joten sen vaikutuksia puun tuotannon lisäämiseen tai monimuotoisuuden tilan parantamiseen ei voida vielä arvioida. Suurin merkitys on tällöin valtion tuilla, jotka puuntuotannon osalta ovat laskeneet 25 %, talousmetsien luonnonhoidon osalta 61 % ja suojelun osalta 65 % vuoden 2010 tasosta. Valtion tukipolitiikassa ei tällä hetkellä näy strategian ajatus metsien