Pavel M FEMC2007

A Study of the Incremental Costs Related to Application of Ecosystem-based Management (EBM)

Mihai Pavel, Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC), 2601 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, mihai-p@vcr.feric.ca

Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is the forest management system selected to be applied on large areas of Coastal British Columbia (BC). Implementation of EBM began in 2004 starting with several transitional elements, and full implementation is to take place in 2009. In essence, application of EBM aims at concurrently achieving high degrees of ecological integrity and human well being. EBM introduces an adaptive approach to forest management and aims at protecting about one-third of the region’s land base. To achieve these goals, more detailed planning is required and an increased responsibility is placed on the industry to be more innovative and flexible in their forest development and harvesting activities.

The present study aimed at quantifying the economic impact of applying EBM compared to traditional (non-EBM) forest management. An analysis was conducted in a watershed on the Central Coast of BC, and various scenarios were investigated to assess the potential effects of this new forest paradigm. The impact of EBM was assessed with respect to the following parameters: (1) reduction of annual harvest volumes; (2) changes in road construction and maintenance costs, and also on distribution of these costs over different planning horizons, and (3) additional logging costs due to increased number of machine mobilizations and demobilizations. Also, a comparison of the in-block logging costs for EBM and non-EBM prescriptions was conducted.