Evolution of restituted stands under the Law 18/1991 and estimation of associated economic rent, in different management approaches | Evoluția arboretelor retrocedate în baza Legii 18/1991 și estimarea rentei economice asociate, în condiții alternative de gestionare

English. Using an inter-disciplinary methodology, the paper aims to assess structural changes of the private forests restituted to their owners in early ‘90 in Romania(under the Law 18/1991), and to further estimate the economic rent resulted due to alternative management activities. The study area consists of restituted, private forests (799 ha) in Forest District Vama (North of the Romanian Eastern Carpathians). The forest structure dynamics was assessed by comparing initial forest structural characteristics at restitution (1990), according to the forest management plan, with the structural characteristics derived from aerial images recorded in 2004. The harvested volume (of period 1990-2004), at compartment level, was considered the percentage of clear cut/overharvested stands (estimated by photointerpretation) applied to the standing volume of 1990. The economic rent was calculated by comparing the economic value of the harvested timber under five management hypothesis: (i) respecting the provisions in the management plan of 1990, (ii) extracting a volume corresponding to the annual increment, (iii-v) extracting the entire volume in 1994, 2004 or 2014, respectively. The provisions of the initial forest management plan (1990) were not economically viable for owners under a harvesting rate of 1.4 m3 year-1 ha-1, the used alternative being a minimum of 23 m3 year-1 ha-1 harvested between 1990 and 2004. In Romania, between 1994 and 2014, the timber price significantly increased in comparison with the capitalization rate. Under these circumstances, the harvesting of forests immediately after restitution conducted to a total economic loss of about 9 million USD (present value - 2014), compared with the alternative - maintaining the forest resources 20 years further. It is concluded that in Romania, the mismanagement of private forests restituted in ‘90s (Law 18/1991) resulted in direct economic losses for forest owners, of similar importance as the ecological consequences.

Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan. În curând