Increasing eucalyptus and maritime pine wood availability through management and afforestation in Alentejo region
The Alentejo region is located in the south of Portugal with a total area of 3,160,500 ha (34% of the total land area of Portugal). According to NFI5 (2005-2006), Alentejo has 44.74% forest cover out of which 95.42% corresponds to forest stands, with the remaining area being composed of burnt and harvested stands and of Other Wooded Land (OWL) (AFN, 2010). Around 45% of the forest area is covered with cork oak and 27% with holm oak (Quercus suber and Q. ilex, respectively) mainly managed as agroforestry systems for cork and fruit production; 6.5% is covered with stone pine (Pinus pinea) also managed for fruit production. Maritime pine (P. pinaster) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), wood production species, cover around 13% of the area with 4% and 9%, respectively (Fig 1). Eucalyptus and maritime pine wood demand has increased over the last decade and this increasing trend is expected to continue (Santos et al. 2013; CELPA, 2014). The main objective of the Pilot Project is to propose measures to increase wood offer, namely by increasing eucalytpus and maritime pine wood availability through afforestation and forest management using a ‘sustainable intensification’ concept, which requires forest managers to have a high degree of knowledge and skill, while at the same time stimulate the use and mobilization of wood from non-traditional species (stone pine and cork oak).
Contact: Margarida Tome, João Rua, Pedro Serra Ramos
Email: magatome@isa.utl.pt
Institution: ISA, Uni. Lisboa, ForestFin
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Accesses: Public access , No public access
Geographic Contexts: Rural
Domain: Governance , Management
Coniferous Destinations: Material use (sawntimber, pulp, panel boards, posts & poles etc) , Energy use
Harwood Destinations: Material use (sawntimber, pulp, panel boards, posts & poles etc) , Energy use
Market Destinations: trend is increasing demand from sawmill , trend is increasing demand from pulp and panel board industry , trend is increasing demand from energy plants
Forest Types: Softwoodous forest of the Mediterranean, Anatolian and Macaronesian regions
Govern Actors: Owners association , Government forest service , Forest Managers / consultants/ agents , Stakeholder networks and associations , Universities and other educational organisations , Research Institutes , Small medium forest-based enterprise
Financial Supports: government forest planting support scheme , government forest management support scheme
Manager Types: managed by owner , managed by professional forest manager (service provider) , managed by company, who is the forest owner , managed by forest association
Owner Types: private , industry , mixed of the above
Scale Operations: small scale (10-50 ha) , medium scale (50-200 ha) , very small scale (<10 ha)
- Financial and material barriers
- Poor road infrastructure to access forests or markets
- Land ownership barriers - Organisation and enterprise barriers
- Small-scale ownership and land fragmentation
- Urban, distant or disconnected forest owners
- Market barriers - Organisation and enterprise barriers
- Weak or lack of markets for wood / forest products
- Knowledge & Skills barriers - Knowledge and attitudinal barriers
- Insufficient of practical skills for forest management
- Attitudes & Values barriers - Knowledge and attitudinal barriers
- Disinterest or opposition of forest owners for non-financial reasons
- Forest resource barriers
- Sustainability concerns and climate change impacts
- Forest management - Organisation and enterprise
- Harvesting and transport
- Enterprise management and forest planning
- Cooperation in forest management - Organisation and enterprise
- Joint forest management
- Knowledge exchange actions - Knowledge and persuasion
- Advanced training and capacity building (for managers & decision-makers)
- Information services and tools - Knowledge and persuasion
- Other information systems