Estimarea volumul arborilor extrași prin căzănire: un studiu de caz bazat pe monitorizare anuală [Assessing the volume of illegal whole-tree harvesting: a case study based on multi-annual monitoring]

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