Cost Analysis of a Novel Method for Ecological Compensation—A Study of the Translocation of Dead Wood

Ola Lindroos, Malin Söderlind, Joel Jensen and Joakim Hjältén
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Ola Lindroos: Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Malin Söderlind: Norra Skog, Box 4076, SE-90403 Umeå, Sweden
Joel Jensen: Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Joakim Hjältén: Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Translocation of dead wood is a novel method for ecological compensation and restoration that could, potentially, provide a new important tool for biodiversity conservation. With this method, substrates that normally have long delivery times are instantly created in a compensation area, and ideally many of the associated dead wood dwelling organisms are translocated together with the substrates. However, to a large extent, there is a lack of knowledge about the cost efficiency of different methods of ecological compensation. Therefore, the costs for different parts of a translocation process and its dependency on some influencing factors were studied. The observed cost was 465 SEK per translocated log for the actual compensation measure, with an additional 349 SEK/log for work to enable evaluation of the translocation’s ecological results. Based on time studies, models were developed to predict required work time and costs for different transportation distances and load sizes. Those models indicated that short extraction and insertion distances for logs should be prioritized over road transportation distances to minimize costs. They also highlighted a trade-off between costs and time until a given ecological value is reached in the compensation area. The methodology used can contribute to more cost-efficient operations and, by doing so, increase the use of ecological compensation and the benefits from a given input.

Keywords: restoration; no-net-loss; biodiversity conservation; wood living species; mining; forwarder; forest operations; cost-efficiency; boreal forest; Sweden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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