The paper empirically examines the contribution of forest-environmental income, and its role in well-being outcomes among the forest dependent households in rural Nepal. The results are based on a one-year survey of 303 households that included the detailed information on household demographics, income and assets and the people's perception in the change in their well-being compared to the last five year. To capture likely non-linear dynamics of well-being status, a probit regression model is tested. Overall, forest environmental income contributed an average of 16% of the total household income. Relative environmental reliance decreased with rising income while absolute environmental income increased. The perception of well-being was related to shock exposure and households' endowments to cope with shocks. In particular, households exposed to several consecutive shocks (two or more severe shocks) over the course of five years significantly reported to be worse-off. The limited role of forest in improving the well-beings of the households is associated with their limited access to the resources. Identification of income groups, their expected wealth status, and asset and access constraints that limit economic advance are used to suggest appropriate targets of intervention.

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Countries in the world might be classified for discussion purposes at international meetings using definitions such as small island developing states, low forest cover countries, rich forest cover countries, forest product exporters, importers, donors, etc. that use their forestry characteristics. While some countries generate income from forests, some have to compensate deficit on revenue to sustain their forests. Nations have rights and responsibilities to cooperate in sustainable forest management at the country level and global scale. Some mechanisms, such as the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), were generated by international institutions to support various countries' needs to solve local problems related to global concerns including sustainable forest management. The suitability of these mechanisms is under discussion at international meetings. Green economy and green accounting terms have also been discussed using mechanisms for payment for ecosystem services (PES). The aim of this study is to develop a method to compute the financial contribution levels for cooperation among countries with different characteristics regarding forestry activities and common forest values. Using general equilibrium models, a balance equation consisting of variables dealing with country rights and responsibilities for sustainable forests is offered as a method to hypothetically classify nations. This equation was tested using random hypothetical data. The results indicate the equation may be used to understand the relative classification of the countries.

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The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using the Japanese National Forest Inventory (NFI) data in modeling site productivity. We investigated the relationship between the site index of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) planted forests derived from the NFI data and climatic and topographic factors. The study area was the main island of Kyushu located in the south-west part of Japan. We estimated the site index with the guide curve method using the data set of dominant tree height and stand age of sugi planted stands derived from the NFI data. Solar radiation index, hydrological upslope contributing area, and vertical exposure index were used as topographic factors. Annual mean temperature and annual precipitation were used as climatic factors. Correlation analysis did not detect any significant relationship between estimated site index and topographic and climatic factors. Possible scenarios that may have contributed to the lack of significant correlation, which was contrary to the findings of previous studies, are discussed.

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A growth curve model used for analyzing growth is characterized by a mathematical function with respect to time, called a growth function. As the results of analysis from a growth curve model strongly depend on the growth function used for the analysis, the selection of growth functions is important. A choice of growth function based on the minimization of a model selection criterion is one of the major selection methods. In this paper, we compare the performances of growth-function selection methods using these criteria (e.g., Mallows' Cp criterion) through Monte Carlo simulations. As a result, we recommend the use of a method employing the Bayesian information criterion for the selection of growth functions.

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Using forest management records from 2005 to 2010, this study compared supply potentials and available logging residue amounts from profitable aggregated stands in Nasushiobara city in Tochigi prefecture with those from profitable subcompartments. Supply potentials from precommercial, commercial thinning, and final felling operations were 39,584 tons, 10,376 tons, and 3,385 tons, respectively. Available amounts at 3,000, 6,000, and 10,000 yen/ton were estimated to be 2,920 tons, 3,495 tons, and 13,334 tons from profitable subcompartments and 2,628 tons, 5,143 tons, and 29,940 tons from profitable aggregated stands, respectively. The available logging residue amounts were increased according to logging residue prices and for aggregated stands. Considering the subsidy, available amounts at 3,000, 6,000, and 10,000 yen/ton were increased to 20,526 tons, 34,981 tons, and 45,175 tons, respectively. The annual available logging residue amounts with a 3,000-yen/ton logging residue price were 3,421 tons/year over the expected demand of logging residues of 2,000 tons/year. Furthermore, the annual available logging residue amounts with a 6,000-yen/ton and a 10,000-yen/ton logging residue price were 5,830 tons/year and 7,529 tons/year over the expected demand for woody biomass of 5,000 tons/year. The supply potential and availability of logging residues, particularly from precommercial thinning operations, were signicantly increased from 2009 because of the new tax that started in April 2008.

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This study investigated the commercial thinning operation with normal bucking at the Takahara Forest Owners' Cooperative, near the Nakagawa sawmill, Tochigi prefecture, Japan. The productivity and net profit of 3-m bucking were estimated based on investigations of normal bucking, to examine the possibility of extending 3-m bucking and fixed-price business to all logs. The recovery rate with 3-m bucking was estimated at 85%―a significant increase over that with normal bucking (38%); therefore, recovered volumes with 3-m bucking were also significantly higher, at 148 m³/ha, compared to that with normal bucking (67 m³/ha). Productivity regarding strip-road construction, felling, and processing with 3-m bucking were higher, in line with higher recovered volumes, whereas productivity regarding bunching, forwarding, and transportation with 3-m bucking were assumed to be identical to those with normal bucking. The total costs per cubic meter with 3-m bucking were lower, whereas total costs per hectare with 3-m bucking were higher, in line with higher recovered volumes. Recovered volumes of grade-A, B, and C wood with normal bucking were estimated at 40, 20, and 7 m³/ha; revenues were estimated at JPY10,000/m³. With 3-m bucking, recovered volumes of grade-A, B, and C wood were estimated at 59, 44, and 44 m3/ha; revenues per cubic meter were lower, at JPY8,400/m³. Generally, net profit per cubic meter with 3-m bucking was lower, in line with higher volumes of lower-quality logs, whereas net profit per hectare with 3-m bucking was twice as high, in line with higher recovered volumes.

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High-density road networks, including established operation-roads, are necessary for mechanized forestry. However, operation-roads and forest roads are typically constructed using different methods. For example, surface processing and the creation of retaining walls are often omitted from the construction of operation-roads to keep costs low, even though such omissions can increase the risk of collapse due to heavy rainfall. Previous studies have clarified the factors that can cause the collapse of forest roads; however, these risks factors remain unknown for operation-roads. To address this, we attempted to extract estimates of the collapse risk for operation-roads with reference to previous studies regarding forest roads. In particular, we extracted the factors resulting in high risk of collapse (i.e., terrain conditions, the geometric structure of the collapse point) based on the operation-road patrol record. Numeric values in the range 0–1 were used to express the determined collapse risk based on the concept of fuzzy theory. Finally, a comparison of the importance of the various contributing factors was conducted using mathematical quantification type II. The results demonstrate that the geometric structure of the collapse point is the dominant factor controlling the collapse risk of operation-roads, in contrast to forest road collapse, which is induced primarily by unfavorable terrain conditions.

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