Current issue: 58(4)
In this article the methods of forest valuation, especially the sales value tables previously published in Finland are critically examined. In this connection attention is drawn to the rate of interest used in calculating the forest values.
The PDF includes an abstract in English.
The study deals with medium-term economic planning for a multi-branched farm enterprise on which agriculture and forestry plus associated livelihoods are practiced. A personal enterprise consisting of the earning economy sphere of an individual person or family is found to provide a suitable point of departure and framework for farm enterprise planning. In this case, the consumer economy cash withdrawals of the entrepreneur and members of his family are linked to the planning model. In a combined planning model of this type serving the management of the agricultural entrepreneur’s entire economy, the problems of both the real process (chiefly pertaining to agriculture and forestry) and the financial process are solved simultaneously and optimally with regard to the goal function, taking into consideration the model’s production factor, financing, taxation and other such constraints. The model also takes into account the possibility of investing money in financial targets (e.g. governments bonds and stocks).
The study consists of constructing a multi-periodic, combined planning model in the form required by linear optimization. The model is applied to the economic planning of a farm and its adjoining woodlot located in south-western Finland. In order to simplify the presentation of the matter, the case calculation is made to apply to a planning period only two years; the time span in the formulae used in the model is actually ten years. For the same reason, the number of treatment alternatives for the stands in the woodlot may appear to be unrealistically small.
Within the planning period the model does not require the use of the calculation rate of interest typical of partial models; instead, it itself provides the solution to where to invest and what the financing costs will be. An essential feature of the model is that the plan for the entire farm is not compiled by adapting to one another the plans made separately for farming, forestry etc., and financing; instead, the entire real process and financial process plan are obtained as the solution for the model.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
The 75th Anniversary volume of the Society of Forestry in Finland (now the Finnish Society of Forest Science) consists of three invited papers.
Professor Viljo Holopainen contributed the article ”The Society of Forestry in Finland during the period of active science and forest policy”. The article gives an account of the founding of the Society and its early activities, and views the main trends in the development of forest science in Finland. The emphasis is on a review of the science policy practiced in Finland during the past few decades, the changes that have taken place in forestry and forest policy and the challenges facing forest research in the changed circumstances. The development in the organization and material resources of forest research is examined in relation to the general trends in science policy. The author also gives an extensive account of the Society’s activities.
Professor Aarne Nyyssönen’s article ”International connections of Finnish forestry research” is an account of the international connections that forestry research in Finland has had in recent years. The author begins with international cooperation in university level education, especially in research training. He then proceeds to examine the international organizations in the field of forestry research, their tasks, activities and the role of Finnish researchers in them. A special form of cooperation, based on bilateral agreements between Finland and other countries is brought up. The greatest importance is attached to Nordic cooperation.
Professor N.A. Osara studies the comprehensive question ”World forestry: some trends and prospects”. The article begins with a review of forest resources, which points out several alarming problems in the tropical and subtropical zones as well as in industrialized countries. Prospects for expansion in the consumption of wood and wood-based products, industry and trade are studied in relation to wood availability and renewable forest resources. The author concludes that forestry can contribute to the improvement of rural conditions all over the world. He also stresses the importance of forest management not only for wood production but also for soil and water management.
The PDF includes a summary in English.