Country-wide and regional wood volume regulation with a harvest scheduling decision-support system.

  • Maarten. Nieuwenhuis Department of Crop Science Horticulture and Forestry, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.
  • Caroline Nugent Green Belt Limited, Virginia, Co. Cavan.
Keywords: Harvest scheduling, volume regulation, decision-support system, constrained optimisation.

Abstract

As part of the development of a decision-support system for integrated harvest scheduling and wood allocation in CoiBte (The Irish Forestry Board), a number of studies were carried out with the objective of evaluating the capabilities and flexibility of a prototype system, the Harvest Scheduling System (HSS), developed by Williamson (1991). Of a total of five studies carried out, two are reported in this paper. The first was used to analyse periodic, fluctuating volume constraints. The results indicated that the demand by management for regulated regional harvest volumes had a significant negative impact on overall profits. Hence, the need for regional volume regulation should be assessed. The second of the two studies indicated that it was possible to produce a periodic, increasing supply of wood in each region. However, this resulted in a large reduction in profits, irrespective of the level of annual increase imposed. The relevance of this type of regulation in relation to sustainability and to the expanding wood processing sector should therefore be carefully examined. The results of the two studies illustrated that the HSS can provide valuable decision-support to Coillte managers at national and regional levels.
Published
1999-11-01
How to Cite
Nieuwenhuis, M. and Nugent, C. (1999) “Country-wide and regional wood volume regulation with a harvest scheduling decision-support system.”, Irish Forestry. Available at: https://journal.societyofirishforesters.ie/index.php/forestry/article/view/9892 (Accessed: 28March2024).
Section
Articles