Sustainability of timber harvesting in Bolivian tropical forests

Data from a total of 117 ha of small (0.25-4 ha) permanent plots in four ecoregions of Bolivia, along with information on harvest data, were used in a simulation model to determine the sustainability of timber harvesting in Bolivian tropical forests. Growth increments of future crop trees (averaging from 0.22 to 0.41 cm/year) in the principal forest ecoregions of Bolivia are currently not high enough to allow for similar wood volumes to be cut in the second next harvest using current cutting cycles and minimum cutting diameters, assuming that forest managers are cutting the volumes of wood that are stated in their management plans. Estimated recoverable volumes in the second harvest for regions varied from approximately 4 to 28% of the potentially harvestable volume in the first cycle considering all commercially marketable stems. It may be unrealistic to expect future yields equal to that of what is essentially primary tropical forest; however, forest managers should consider options that will allow for harvesting to move closer to sustainable wood production. These options include the implementation of silvicultural treatments to increase tree growth, focusing on fast-growing species with good regeneration, using fallow cycle rotations or a combination of these methods.