Today's world demand for the products and services of forests is a mix of static or only slightly increasing demand for wood, a steady but slowly increasing demand for non-timber forest products, and a burgeoning but largely unmonetised demand for environmental services. The future economic importance of forests will increasingly lie in their non-timber products and especially in their environmental functions, while wood will rather turn a by-product.

Along with efforts to enhance economic sustainability by adding value to forests, the development of forestry and forest industries which allow a permanent supply of raw material constitutes a serious challenge.

This takes the entrepreneurship and know-how of forest enterprises in how to implement sustainable forest management and end up with a predictable flow of returns. Also, if forest enterprises are to make long-term investments and pursue management objectives continuously over one rotation cycle at least, they need favourable macro-economic framework conditions and the right incentives.

ECO services include:

• Analyses of framework conditions for production and marketing
• Forest inventories (terrestrial sampling, remote sensing)
• Establishment and maintenance of databases and MIS in forestry
• Management planning services for concessionaires, public forest services and fringe communities
• Consultation on harvesting operations (reduced impact logging, area lay-out and operational planning)
• Increment modelling
• Promotion/ facilitation of forest certification
• Economic analyses and valuation of alternative management systems
• Support to the development of adapted economic valuation instruments (via GEF, certification, performance bonds etc.).

Certification is one way for timber industries to keep pace with tomorrow's market demands.

Stable yields are lifeline for small-scale business, precondition for entrepreneurship.

Your contact:
Dr. Steve Sepp: