Canadian Forest Service Publications
Planning for sustainability of forests in British Columbia through land use zonation. 1996. Sahajananthan, S.; Haley, D.; Nelson, J. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC. Working Paper WP-96.08, copublished by the BC Ministry of Forests.
Year: 1996
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 4623
Language: English
Series: Working Paper WP (PFC - Victoria)
Availability: PDF (download)
Abstract
Multiple use management is examined in the context of land-use zonation. Integrated use forestry practices in British Columbia are compared with an alternative single use system which defines, and incorporates in a unit plan, a zone where timber production dominates. Theoretical findings were empirically tested by simulation with spatially explicit models, ATLAS and SIMFOR, in a sub-unit of the Revelstoke Timber Supply Area in British Columbia. At the lowest level of timber management, a single use system produced the same annual harvest on 46% of the operable landbase relative to the integrated use case with the remaining 54% on the landbase available for non-timber resources. At the highest level of timber management, only 35% of the operable landbase was needed to produce the equivalent volume. Relative to the multiple use scenarios, the single use system also showed higher economic rent, fewer (65%) active roads, larger patch sizes of old-growth, and less habitat fragmentation. The single use zoning approach is economically efficient and environmentally sound and it could lay the foundation for tenure reforms and help in the creation of both industrial and non-industrial tenure arrangements. The zoning approach appears to be a promising method for achieving sustainability of timber and non-timber resources.