PD 57/99 

Sustainable management of production forests at the
commercial scale in the Brazilian Amazon

Brazil

The project represented by this proposal has as final objective to encourage the adoption of good forest management practices by timber enterprises in the Brazilian Amazon. The central idea is to develop, test, evaluate and transfer a Forest Management System (FMS) for use by timber enterprises working under typical production conditions found in terra firme forests of the Brazilian Amazon. The FMS consists of a set of tools designed to assist a forest enterprise in the planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of its operations to archieve sustained economic benefits under current and foreseeable environmental and social conditions. There are two types of tools: silvicultural, including tools, e.g. for planning timber harvesting and monitoring forest growth, and managerial tools e.g., for the economic planning and control of the enterprise's operations. In the first phase (2000-2001) a Forest Management System Prototype (FMS-P) will be tested and validated at an operational scale by one timber enterprise in the Eastern Brasilian Amazon. In addition, a system to monitor the ecological, social and economic impacts of the FMS-P will be developed and tested. The second phase (2002-2004) will be mainly devoted to technically assist in the transfer of the validated FMS and evaluate its ecological, social and economical impacts under consideration of natural, socioeconomic and political frame conditions. The project has a potential to provide technical background and institutional capacity to improve nationsl and regional forest policies related to forest management in the Brazilian Amazon, as well as in other Amazonian countries. The main project executing agencies are EMBRAPA Eastern Amazon and CIFOR. A number of local/regional insitutions will collaborate, participate or benefit from the project.

Implementing agency  

EMBRAPA Amazônia Oriental, Belem, Para
in cooperation with CIFOR
Budget  

USD 753'95
Swiss contribution: USD 693'954
Planned duration   2 years (Phase I)
Starting date   May 2003
Status   completed
Topics   Silviculture and management of natural tropical forests
Contact   jblaser(a)intercooperation.ch
Final Report

ITTO 2008: Final Report

Progress report

November 2008

As the ITTO Secretariat has received the Project Completion Report, several Technical Reports and other products, as well as the Final Financial Audit Report, the Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management declared the project completed, in November 2008.

December 2007

In accordance with the two most recent progress reports submitted to ITTO in February and August 2007, and a Project Steering committee meeting held in April 2007, progress in project implementation can be summarized by specific objectives and outputs as follows:

1) Develop and validate a Forest Management System (FMS) for medium & large timber enterprises

- A set of “Guidelines for Reduced Impact Logging” were developed, published and disseminated among forest enterprises, and the later are currently applying them;

- A set of “Technical Guidelinbes for Forest Management” are being finalized and will be published shortly;

- Post-harvest silvicultural trials on two plots of 700 ha are periodically monitored and data collected to date will be analysed shortly in order to produce a first draft of a set of “Guidelines for Post-Harvesting Silviculture”;

- As the TREMA software was deemed unsuitable by enterprises, a new software has been developed for planning and controlling forest operations, including the mapping of trees and tracking the chain of custody, and code-named “PLANEJO”. Enterprises are currently validating this new tool;

- A set of “Guidelines for the Establishment and Measurement of Permanent Sample Plots” were developed, published and disseminated among forest enterprises, and the later are currently applying them. The database and software to analyse the information from these plots is expected to be finalized shortly;

– Guidelines and software for developing volume equations have been finalized and are currently being applied in the field;

- A software (MOP) and a user manual were developed for monitoring the operational performance of forest enterprises and are currently being tested;

- A forest enterprise bookkeeping/accounting manual is currently being finalized; and

- A manual and software (MEOF) developed to track production and costs is currently being tested by the partner enterprises.

(2) Develop and validate a system for monitoring and evaluating the social, ecological and economic impacts of the Forest Management System (FMS)

- Field activities are being finalized as regards the social aspects of FMS and a tool is expected to be developed shortly

- A M.Sc. thesis focusing on the development of procedures to monitor logging damage has been completed ITTO’s C&I are being applied in the project’s partner enterprises;

- A manual for auditing forest management activities has been developed in collaboration with IBAMA and PROMANEJO, and has been published and disseminated by IBAMA; and

- BAMA’s technical staff in Porto Velho was trained to use the auditing manual.

(3) Project results documented & disseminated through publications & technical meetings

- All project results are posted on its website: Projeto Bom, which is updated on a weekly basis; and

- To date the project has prepared 3 books, 7 manuals 9 scientific/technical papers; 6 dissertations (PhD & MSc), plus many other dissemination materials.

The project is expected to be completed in January 2008.