Search

In recent years research findings on the use of RFID (Radio frequency identification) on forest sector has been accumulating. Since technological progress is very rapid a synthesis of the research results is needed as to know to what extent the use of this technology is appropriate in the forestry sector in Romania. This study is important because the forestry sector cannot be competitive if it is cut off from technological progress, in particular if considered that automation and robotization will be increasingly present in forestry due to the lack of manpower. In the immediate future, the forestry entities and operators will need to import technologies compatible with their own business-model as to provide a clear endorsement that the raw material is supplied from sustainably managed forests. The main barrier to this technology transfer is the difficulty of integrating the use of RFID tool into forestry operations related to placing timber on the market. Hence, we use the available research results to understand which organizational, or behavioral and technical characteristics are determining the technological progress up-taking for a better traceability of raw material coming from Romanian forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to estimate the volume of the harvested wood in two beech stands from North-Eastern Romania. We have installed in 2008 two sample plots of 0.25 hectares each. For each tree, we have recorded the azimuth, the distance to the center and the dendrometric characteristics. Each following year, in March, all the trees of the two plots were inventoried. Thus allow us to identify the harvested trees, with two situations: stump found or whole harvested tree. We have assumed that all harvested trees with remaining stump were cut legally, and we have considered the whole-tree harvesting (with stump removal) as being illegal logging. In the first plot the initial stand volume in 2008 was 459.22 m3 ha-1, while in 2016 the volume was 457.24 m3 ha-1. After 8 years monitoring, we have recorded a volume harvested legally of 43.51 m3 ha-1 (stump existing in the plot) and a volume illegally harvested of 47.16 m3 ha-1 (the trees, including their stump, have disappeared from the plot). In the second plot, the initial volume in 2008 was 461.71 m3 ha-1, and in 2016 the volume was 479.34 m3 ha-1. In this plot, the volume harvested legally was 52.99 m3 ha-1 and the volume harvested illegally (disappeared trees) was 5.92 m3 ha-1. In the first studied plot, 18 trees were legally harvested, and 23 illegally harvested. In the second plot, 14 tress were legally harvested, while 3 trees were illegally harvested. The average diameter of trees harvested illegally is 18.67 cm and the average volume per tree is 0,5 m3 . In average for the two plots, and for the period studied (2008-2016) the volume harvested by illegal whole-tree removal represents half of the legal harvesting. If extrapolating the minimum recorded volume of illegal whole tree removals only to young forest (3,700,000 ha - according IFN - roifn.ro) and to only one third of them considered to be easily accessible to the local population, the volume of illegal whole-tree harvesting may reach almost 1,000,000 m3 year-1. Our results argue that the volume of the illegal whole-tree harvesting is largely underestimated, that the easier accessible stands are the most likely to be affected by the illegal whole-tree harvesting and that the local firewood needs are driving this form of illegal logging

Social conflicts analysis of poplar crops relies on the study of the local inhabitants’ attitudes and perception about the change of the land use from agriculture to poplar plantation. We have applied a quantitative methodology with structured questionnaire in two localities (abbreviated as D and M) from North-Est Romania to assess inhabitants’ perceptions on afforestation and on poplar culture and their behavior related with afforestation of abandoned agricultural lands. The fact that 86% of respondents prone to keep their agricultural land instead of selling it to private investors and 70% think that changing the land use from agricultural land to forest is not an acceptable thing. This high percentages are sustained by 55% who do not accept the poplar afforestation which are located in the proximity of their homes. The study level, age classes and ownership types are socio-economics and demographics characteristics which have a significant influence on the attitude toward poplar crops. All these results reveal a high potential level of conflicts between the practice of short-rotation poplar cultures and the traditional values of rural communities.

Poplar (Populus spp.) is a fast-growing species in temperate conditions, with potential to substitute fossil fuels by obtaining energy from biomass. The aim of this work was to study the productivity of 6 hybrid poplar clone from a hilly region of NE Romania, after a growing season of 4 and, respectively, 5 years. Rods were used as planting material, planted at a density of 2667 trees per ha, with between-row spacing of 3 m and interior-row distances of 1.25 m. Generally, significant differences appear between clones, for all analysed biometric characteristics (p≤0.05). Results show that, in the fifth growing season, diameter increases on average with 15.1%, reaching 11.89 cm, height increases in average with 13.9%, reaching 11.89 m, and volume increases with 33.3%, reaching 0.172 m3. The total biomass after 4 years vegetation varies from 32.8 t/ha to 39.4 t/ha, and after 5 years from 47.7 t/ha to 60.2 t/ha, having an average increase in the latest growing season of 35% and an average yield of 11.3 t/ha/year. The most productive clones in the given growing conditions and crop characteristics are the clone Pannonia after 4 growing seasons and the clone AF6 after 5 years.

Cultural ecosystem services offer a range of benefits for human well-being, but from an identity perspective. These benefits include aesthetic experiences, knowledge and skills, spirituality, involvement in nature conservation, which means that, indirectly, cultural services ensure the preservation of all forms of life. The concept of cultural ecosystem services has become increasingly important in recent years as it helps to understand the socio-cultural value of forests and to balance stakeholder interests in forest management. In Romania, ecosystem services are recognised through the protection and production functions attributed to forests. Fortunately, the Romanian forestry system integrates many ecosystem services in the process of developing forest management, the first correlation between the specific functional categories of each stand type and the proposed silvicultural measures. Moreover, the mixed forestry policy instruments for forest ecosystem services refer to the necessary documents on the harmonisation of forestry planning with the management plan of protected natural areas and with the complementary ones offered by the FSC certification system. Cultural ecosystem services face several challenges, one of which is the lack of coherent concepts that hinder the assessment and integration of forest ecosystem services into landscape architecture design. The results of the analysis show that forests with a cultural role identified through the certification process generally refer to forests near cultural and/or heritage buildings (such as churches and monasteries) or forests offering important aesthetic and/or recreational values. Clearly, forest management certification contributes, with a simple methodological approach, to the identification of forests with a cultural role, especially in situations where forest management plans do not give them priority due to the limitations of functional zoning criteria. More than 40% of the cultural forests analysed have a recreational and ecotourism role, followed by those with spiritual or religious value with 18% of the total area of cultural forests analysed. Although seven types of cultural ecosystem services have been identified through this study, the cultural diversity component is impossible to differentiate at the national level because cultural diversity implies the existence of indigenous populations. Instead, the study can be expanded on a larger scale to identify more forests with inspirational or aesthetic value, both of which are valued at the landscape level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Result-based payments are so-called agri-environment schemes in which farmers and land managers are paid for allowing or enhancing the presence of bird, butterfly, or flower species of particular biodiversity importance on their land, with the farmer receiving a payment corresponding to the result desired by the environmental authority. In Romania, Fundația ADEPT implemented a pilot scheme of result-based biodiversity payments to reward practical land management. The semi-structured questionnaires were conducted in the Pogany-Havas region and in the Târnava-Mare region in 2022-2023. At the same time, in 2021, the questionnaire was applied to Vicovul de Jos farmers who received agri-environmental payments based on actions from the Agency for Payments and Interventions for Agriculture (APIA). Farmers were asked questions capturing information on i) socio-demographic characteristics (year of birth, gender, last school graduated); ii) agricultural land, machinery, and costs; iii) views on PBR; iv) previous participation in agri-environment schemes; v) satisfaction with the pilot agri-environment scheme and vi) role of agri-environment schemes in biodiversity conservation. Following analysis of European and national result-based payment contracts, the common objective was to protect biodiversity. Romanian farmers mentioned that unclean pastures lead to biodiversity loss. They consider that this type of scheme requires less effort, time, and cost of production, but the income is lower than the traditional schemes. As a result, an important performance indicator of this scheme is the freedom of decision of the owner on the measures to be applied to achieve the desired result. Implementing payments for ecosystem services and biodiversity on a large scale requires overcoming two main obstacles: lack of indicator species and opposition from the authorities. The basic condition for the implementation of result-based payment schemes is that the legislative system allows for the voluntary commitment of owners to conservation objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of the forest sector as part of the national economy where the production and marketing of forest products take place provides essential information for formulating strategies for the sustainable management of forest resources. The present study aims to contribute to the clarification of some aspects regarding the structural attributes of the demand of logs for industrial use. To meet the objectives of this study, we proceeded to analyse the available data from 2013-2019 with the help of specific tools such the Herfindahl-Hirshman index (IHH), the concentration rate C5, the degree of market concentration and the Pareto index. A few key ideas can be summarized according to this study: i) Productivity is lower than the national average, but growing almost 50% more than in 2014; ii) The increasing evolution of the number of companies (+21%) suggests a tendency towards fragmentation and deconcentration, especially in the forestry segment, where the increase in the number of companies (+31% number of companies) did not follow the same pace as the increase in turnover; iii) Forestry sector in which micro-enterprises predominate (84%), about 10% of the sector's turnover is achieved through subcontracting, which shows an adaptation reaction to the uncertainties and risks of the sector by transferring commercial risks downstream; iv) For comparison, during the crisis period of 2013, 5% of the national turnover on the total economy was made by over 110 thousand companies that did not have any employees; v) The top 20% of logging firms account for 70% of the segment's turnover, while the top 20% of wood sawing and planning firms account for 89% of the segment's turnover; vi)Among all segments of the forestry sector, logging is the segment with the weakest degree of concentration - which negatively affects the possibility of innovation precisely in this sector where investment and innovation are needed due to the new protection/ecological requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses a current and important topic whose study is absolutely necessary for society and non-wood forest products sector (NWFP). The high scientific and practical importance of the issue, especially in rural areas, was the main motivation of the study. Choosing this topic was also justified by the interest for NWFP at national and international level. The keystone hypothesis of the research it is whether non-timber forest products are a food source that ensures health, a family income and what the depends efficiency of harvesters. The goal of the study was to assess the performance of collecting NWFP by the non-parametric method of data envelopment analysis (DEA). The primary data needed for the application of the non-parametric methodology were collected from 510 persons located in 164 localities pending to 16 districts of the Republic of Moldova. The survey included 172 variables that described the basic activities in the NWFP collection process. The statistical processing of the primary database was made using the application SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), by the principal component analysis, based on some nominal and numerical variables. The results show the most efficient NWFP collectors work on degraded lands, managed by the municipalities, for sale, harvesting them by shaking or cutting, processing them into dry form, where there is a collection point where there is a collection point. The standard profile of efficient collectors also assumes that they go picking with acquaintances, travels by car up to 10 km and consider that this activity contributes a lot to the family's income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of forest tree species varies widely between different areas or regions. Tree species diversity is a direct way of assessing biodiversity and the Shannon entropy index is the most commonly used. The LandClim model is suitable for capturing the dynamics of forest vegetation at large temporal and spatial scales as well as the effects of disturbances on diversity that differ depending on climate, environment or location of disturbed ecosystems. The paper aims to identify how the tree species diversity is affected by disturbances in a climate scenario that projects low-impact climate change. It also wants to clarify how tree species diversity reacts at different altitudes and aspect classes. The simulations show that as the intensity and size of the disturbances increase, from the scenario without disturbances to mixed disturbances, the values of tree species diversity increase. At the same time, the rise in altitude leads to a differentiation of tree species diversity between disturbance scenarios and at extreme elevation, the tree species diversity evolution is more strongly influenced by aspect while. In contrast, intermediate altitudes offer a relatively constant tree species diversity in mixed and anthropogenic disturbances. The simulations of the specific composition dynamic show the disturbances effects on tree species diversity which need understood and included in the forest management system. The positive effects, increasing tree species diversity, should be exploited by preserving the pioneer species initially installed avoiding excessive homogenization of forest stands, sometimes imposed by too rigid technical norms. Using the ecosystem response and incorporating the positive effects of natural disturbances in forest management can be an appropriate way to create stands more adapted to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bucovina Forestieră is the property of Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Faculty of Forestry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Romania's forest policy is based on a long tradition in establishing and implementing the principles of sustainable management of forestry resources, based on a sound scientific and technical foundation. This resulted in a rigorous forestry regime, designed to operate efficiently under the conditions of state ownership over all forests. Over the past 30 years, Romania has gone through a period of transition towards a market economy with major institutional changes that took place in the forest sector through the restitution of forests and the privatisation of the administration, logging and forest industry sector. In this context, the regulatory system did not have the expected efficiency, which is reflected in a clear social tension, involving all stakeholders interested in and affected by the management of forests: private owners, public and private forest administration, logging and wood processing companies, environmental protection organisations, civil society, etc. The paper presents the process of elaborating a vision for sustainable forest management that would underlie a new public forest policy, in accordance with the international strategic documents and with the current challenges faced by the Romanian forest sector. The dialogue platform used in the elaboration of the vision has been coordinated by a university, precisely to ensure a unitary methodological approach to involve relevant experts and stakeholders in the process. The development of the vision used a stepwise participatory process based on the activity of a core group of experts followed by an extension of the group of experts, a public consultation process and a public debate. The result of the process is materialised in a set of eight sustainable forest management principles and four good governance principles. The implementation of the principles requires the identification, through an efficient and constructive communication between all stakeholders, of specific directions of action that have to be integrated in a new regulatory system that needs to be clear, easily monitored and effective in terms of practical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bundle of forest landowners' rights largely varies from one jurisdiction to another. On a global scale, the diversity of forest management regime and property rights systems is such that finding comprehensive and standardised approaches for governance analysis purposes is a challenging task. This paper explores the use of the Property Rights Index for Forestry (PRIF) as an analytical tool based on five rights domains (access, withdrawal, management, exclusion, and alienation) to assess how regulatory frameworks impact the owners' forest property rights. We show that PRIF is a reliable index for various governance arrangements, considering its ability to score forest owners' freedom to decide in case studies that range from the Amazon area (Brazil), Misiones province (Argentina) and Quebec (Canada) to community-managed Nepalese and Mexican forests. PRIF scores obtained in these diverse governance arrangements confirm that the governance of forests held by entities other than the state is driven by two factors: the owner's ability to exclude the public from the use of his/her own resource and the owner's freedom to decide on the forest management goals. These factors explained 66.44% of the variance in our sample and should be considered as the main potential drivers while implementing any new international or national policy. Despite having a few limitations, the PRIF is a promising governance indicator and has been proven to perform well for various socioeconomic and legal contexts., (© 2023. The Author(s).)