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Harvest Decisions and Spatial Landscape Attributes: The Case of Galician Communal Forests

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Abstract

In recent years, forest management has moved towards a landscape approach reflecting a mix of social, environmental and economic values. In this paper, we evaluate the effect on harvesting decisions of the spatial attributes of communal forests in Galicia. We first model the forest landscape management problem within a bioeconomic framework, which allows the identification of optimal clear-cutting strategies. This framework makes it possible to model a Faustmann-type rotation at the landscape level. The empirical analysis uses data from communal forests in Galicia, Spain. Under communal ownership, members of a rural community have rights to forest resources, but not rights to the forest itself. The management of communal forests integrates multiple forest uses within the decision making process. Given the communal nature of forest rights, and given these multiple uses, we show that landscape patterns—fragmentation, diversity and clumpiness—determine rotation periods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Economics, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    Julia Touza

  2. ecoSERVICES Group, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    Charles Perrings

  3. Department of Quantitative Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Avenida Xoán XXIII, s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    María Luisa Chas Amil

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  1. Julia Touza
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  2. Charles Perrings
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  3. María Luisa Chas Amil
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Correspondence to Julia Touza.

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Touza, J., Perrings, C. & Chas Amil, M.L. Harvest Decisions and Spatial Landscape Attributes: The Case of Galician Communal Forests. Environ Resource Econ 46, 75–91 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-009-9335-z

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