Sokolov V. A., Baginskiy V. F. On the Methods for Calculating Annual Allowable Cut

© Sokolov V. A., Baginskiy V. F., 2014

Crisis in supplying regions and the country related to available forest resources and low profitability of forest sector, as a whole, is an indicator of failure of the existing model of forest management and forest use organization in Russia at the present time. Many Russian regions, which are traditionally considered as forest industrial territories, face the challenge of lack of economically accessible forests. The forests are decreasing against a background of under exploitation of the annual allowable cut. This situation occurs in Siberia as well. In many cases, using calculated allowable cut will result in unsustainable harvest levels and a future decrease of accessible forest resources. Thus, the statement that «a volume of wood resource utilization is determined by allowable cut represented the scientifically grounded norm of sustainable forest use» is considered as no more than the declarative proposition. Modeling the normal forest, and using a formula of allowable cut calculation estimated for some decades based on the modeling, is totally unreliable and unreal. The long-term forecast should use analog methods, but it will hardly be sufficiently accurate and adequate to set norms. In order to estimate ecological and economic accessibility of forest resources, an algorithm was made, and a method and model were developed. This model is based on GIS-database and makes it possible to estimate accessibility of forest resources and to map it as well. The conclusion on necessity to determine annual allowable cut in two varieties was drawn following the procedures for calculating annual allowable cut. The first variety is silvicultural (according the currently used methods) and the other one is economically accessible allowable cut, which could provide economic effective use of tradable mature wood, taking in to account ecological and economic accessibility of forest resources.