Identification strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and offering management strategies for forest logging and forest logging ban

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University Sari, Sari, Iran

2 Department of Forest Science and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University Sari, Sari, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: In recent years, one of the most important challenges in the management of Hyrcanian forests is the continuation of the process of forests logging or its logging ban (forest respiration). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of logging plans and forest logging ban from an economic and social perspective and to provide appropriate management strategies in this field and prioritize them as a tool to reduce these challenges.
Material and methods: The study was conducted in Mazandaran Province (Sari City) using field observations and questionnaire completion. The statistical sample of the study consisted of experts and faculty members specialized in the forestry field and rural communities on the margins of forests. In this study, entropy and SWOT techniques were used for data analysis.
Results and discussion: The results of the study identified 4 strengths, 6 weaknesses, 8 opportunities and 2 threats for forest logging and 2 strengths, 9 weaknesses, 4 opportunities and 8 threats for forest logging ban. According to the SWOT matrix results, the most important strengths and opportunities for forest logging included reducing wood smuggling and meeting the country's wood needs, and the most important weakness and threats included logging costs and nature lovers' dissatisfaction, respectively. Also, the most important strengths and opportunities of the forest logging ban include increasing the economic value of forest environmental services and the tendency towards wood cultivation, and its most important weaknesses and threats were the reduction of employment and the increase of wood smuggling, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the results of data related forest logging and forest logging ban (forest respiration) of the forests of the study area and based on analysis of QSPM matrix results, most appropriate management strategy for forest logging and forest logging ban was an offensive strategy and a defensive strategy, respectively.

Keywords

References

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Environmental Sciences
Volume 20, Issue 2
2022
Pages 135-154

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