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A Survey of Logging Contract Rates in the Southern European Alps

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Abstract

A survey of harvesting contracts was conducted in the Alpine regions of France and Italy. The main goal was to produce a benchmark for the harvesting contract rates in the area that may guide forest owners and logging contractors when making their harvesting decisions. The sample included 443 contracts, evenly distributed between France and Italy. The mean tract size was 9.17 ha, while the mean lot size was slightly larger than 500 m3 under bark (ub). Mean removal intensity varied from 70 to 120 m3 ub ha−1, depending on country and harvesting technique (i.e. ground-based or cable-yarder based). Mean contract rate was 35€ m−3 ub, but individual contract rates varied significantly between countries and for different harvest techniques. Regression analysis showed that contract rate was strongly affected by tree size, extraction distance and harvest technique. Contrary to expectation, neither tract size nor lot size had any effect on contract rate. This may be explained by the widespread use of mobile operations that are specifically designed for handling small lots and incur minimum relocation cost. The technical factors explored in the study could only explain 40 % of the variability in the dataset, and therefore at least part of the variability must derive from non-technical factors such as local market dynamics and national economics. The study did find significant differences between countries. In particular, ground-based operations were more cost efficient in France, and cable yarder-based operations in Italy.

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Acknowledgments

This study is a part of the project “Organization and rationalization of logging operations” funded by Regione Autonoma Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Servizio Gestione Forestale e Produzione Legnosa and managed by CESFAM—Centro Servizi per le Foreste e le Attività della Montagna. Special thanks are due to Dott. M. Di Gallo and Dott. R. Comino for their support with study planning and data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR IVALSA, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Raffaele Spinelli & Natascia Magagnotti

  2. School of Forestry, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Rien Visser

  3. Office National de Forêts, Chambery, France

    Catherine Riond

Authors
  1. Raffaele Spinelli
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  2. Rien Visser
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  3. Catherine Riond
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  4. Natascia Magagnotti
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Correspondence to Raffaele Spinelli.

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Spinelli, R., Visser, R., Riond, C. et al. A Survey of Logging Contract Rates in the Southern European Alps. Small-scale Forestry 16, 179–193 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-016-9350-1

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