Sustaining Forest Management in the Amazon: An Application of the Simple Forestry Economics to the ‘Strip Shelterbelt System’ in the Palcazu Valley, Perú

Abstract

Evalúa el Sistema de Manejo Forestal en Fajas (SMFF), introducido de manera experimental en el Valle del Palcazu, en la Selva Alta del Perú, con el propósito de maximizar simultáneamente el uso de biomasa forestal y el bienestar socioeconómico de poblaciones locales. Este sistema representó una experiencia única de manejo forestal en los trópicos y atrajo la atención de la comunidad científica entre fines de la década de los 80 y mediados de los 90. La investigación aplica el análisis costo-beneficio, para lo cual se fundamenta en la incorporación de variables económicas (precios, costos, indicadores de rentabilidad, etc.) al análisis del crecimiento de la biomasa forestal, adaptando a bosques tropicales funciones de crecimiento forestal en bosques templados. La aplicación de principios básicos de economía revela, por un lado, que la rentabilidad del SMFF pudo mejorar notablemente si se hubiera modificado el cronograma de cosechas previas a la cosecha principal y, de otro lado, que, proyectando los resultados obtenidos hasta el año 1991, los beneficios netos del SMFF se acercaban a US$ 350/ha, una suma significativa que podría haberse usado para mejorar los niveles de bienestar de la población local.

In this dissertation the questions involved in applying the standard forestry economics to the sustainable use of an Amazonian rainforest are examined. A project, called the Strip Shelterbelt System, designed to maximise simultaneously the use Of forest biomass and the socioeconomic welfare of local populations in the Peruvian High Jungle is evaluated. These features made of the project a unique experience and attracted the attention of the scientific community in an unusual manner. We start off by summarising the main aspects of two theories of decision process related to the use of forestry resources, both of them rooted in the Cost Benefit Analysis approach. Then, we try to extend and complement the models in order to assess the ex-ante projection of the Strip Shelterbelt System, as planned by the designers in 1986. In addition, we conduct an ex-ante evaluation based on the actual data collected for the 1991 activities. On the theoretical side, the exercise shows that the standard forestry economics can be extended So as to cope with the analysis and the design Of possible solutions to the problem of sustainable management of Amazonian forests. The practical implications of the evaluation of the ex-ante estimates make evident that the System's profitability could have been improved if some basic economic principles had been applied. The actual volume Of production per hectare harvested is far less than what the designers expected, and this explains, partially, why the economic goals were not fulfilled. The ex-post evaluation is based on the 1991 operations' data for levels of output, price, and costs. With that information, we obtain the financial results corresponding to tha year, and then project a flow of benefits and costs over a 40-year rotation cycle and the corresponding Cost Benfit Analysis. This is done for a single 40 year rotation and a multiple rotation scheme. The results are quite encouraging indeed, and can be used to support the promotion of similar experiences of sustainable forestry management in the region. Our analysis is based on a conventional Cost Benefit Analysis, i.e., taking account only of private costs and benefits.