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Can native tree species plantations in Panama compete with Teak plantations? An economic estimation

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Abstract

Panama has the highest rate of change in the area of primary forests within Central America. However, to meet growing timber demands, it became popular over the last decades to establish plantations made up of foreign species such as Tectona grandis or Pinus spp. In the majority of the cases the species used are well known; their characteristics such as growth performance have been reviewed intensively and can be accessed in numerous publications. Characteristics of Panama’s native tree species of commercial relevance such as Hieronyma alchorneoides, Swietenia macrophylla and Terminalia amazonia are largely unknown and have been investigated within the study at hand. Using valuation methods of financial mathematics, the competitive position of these three indigenous species was assessed, the results compared to those of T. grandis stands in the same area. Land costs and taxes were not considered, as they would be the same for all species. Financial estimates for indigenous species will enlarge their acceptance for use in reforestation and plantation projects. Using the NPV method and applying the standard scenario, the profitability of T. grandis is lower than that of T. amazonia and S. macrophylla and lies only slightly above the profitability calculated for H. alchorneoides. This result clearly indicates that the investigated native tree species are comparable with T. grandis regarding their economic profitability. Besides its ecological impact, growing native tree species is now also economically legitimate. By calculating land expectation values for all tree species, ideal rotation lengths could be determined. For these species, considerable flexibility exists regarding the optimal rotation length.

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Notes

  1. Yaels Camacho, Forest engineer at the research site.

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Acknowledgments

The presented study is part of the project “Bioeconomic modelling and optimization of forest stands: Towards silvicultural economics” KN 586/7-1 funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The authors wish to thank Mrs. Kristin Dzurella for the manuscript language editing and three anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forest Management, Center of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Verena C. Griess & Thomas Knoke

Authors
  1. Verena C. Griess
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  2. Thomas Knoke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Verena C. Griess.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13; Figs. 9, 10, and 11.

Table 6 Yield projection for Tectona grandis at the study site
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Table 7 Yield projection for Hieronyma alchorneoides at the study site
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Table 8 Yield projection for Swietenia macrophylla at the study site
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Table 9 Yield projection for Terminalia amazonia at the study site
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Table 10 Changes in the NPV of T. grandis with rising initial cash outflows
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Table 11 Changes in the NPV of H. alchorneoides with rising initial cash outflows
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Table 12 Changes in the NPV of S. macrophylla with rising initial cash outflows
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Table 13 Changes in the NPV of T. amazonia with rising initial cash outflows
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Fig. 9
figure 9

LEV development for H. alchorneoides under varying rotation lengths

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Fig. 10
figure 10

LEV development for S. macrophylla under varying rotation lengths

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Fig. 11
figure 11

LEV development for T. amazonia under varying rotation lengths

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Griess, V.C., Knoke, T. Can native tree species plantations in Panama compete with Teak plantations? An economic estimation. New Forests 41, 13–39 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-010-9207-y

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