Fiscal Effect on Logging Behavior
Attributes
Medium: Animals, Plants and/or Others
Country: Malaysia
Analytical Framework(s): Damage Schedule
Study Date: 2000
Publication Date: 2003
Major Result(s)
| Resource/Environmental Good | MYR (2000) |
MYR (2014)1 |
USD (2014)2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Investment (Fixed Asset) of Selected Wood-based Industries: Sawmills | 817,610.00 | 1,079,286.08 | 312,687.00 |
| Plywood / Veneer Mills | 5,699,120.00 | 7,523,123.36 | 2,179,573.06 |
| Moulding Mills | 392,267.00 | 517,812.05 | 150,018.70 |
| Total | 1,779,790.00 | 2,349,411.79 | 680,663.39 |
About the Inflation Adjustment: Prices in Malaysia (MYR) changed by 32.01% from 2000 to 2014 (aggregated from annual CPI data), so the study values were multiplied by 1.32 to express them in 2014 prices. The study values could be expressed in any desired year (for example, to 2025) by following the same inflation calculation and being sensitive to directional (forward/backward) aggregations using your own CPI/inflation data.
Study Note: While the Malaysian situation is not necessarily representative of logger behavior in all the tropical forests, it has direct relevance to the ecological and economic conditions prevailing in Southeast Asia, one of the world's main tropical forest areas and the source of most internationally traded tropical timber. This study illuminates the factors influencing logger behavior which will be of broad interest throughout the developing world.
Study Details
Summary: This study investigates the characteristics and behaviour of logging concessionaires in Peninsular Malaysia. It highlights the aspects of these companies and their concessions that affect environmental performance. It finds that the companies are caught in a Catch-22 situation in which an increase in both harvesting rates and the number of trees left standing leads to more environmental damage in logging areas. The study suggests that the Malaysian government should introduce and encourage more environmental-friendly harvesting techniques, allow higher cutting intensities but with greater monitoring and control, and extend the cutting cycle to give the forests sufficient time to recuperate and regenerate.
Site Characteristics: Investigating the behavior of concessionaires requires an understanding of the forestry management and trade in the country. The total land area of Peninsular Malaysia is 13,162,314 ha, of which only 5,979,649 ha (45.4%) is forest. A large portion of the forest is further classified into a permanent forest reserve (PFR) that covers 4,837,500 or 80.9%. The rest of the forests is classified into Stateland, Wildlife Reserve and other reserve areas. The PFR is further classified into Productive forest for sustainable timber production, Protected forest and Amenity forest. A Stateland forest is a forestland earmarked for conversion into development projects.
Comments: This study was constrained by the availability of data that limited a wide coverage of sample points. Future studies should attempt to incorporate other districts to capture enough variability in factors influencing harvesting decisions and damage impacts.