Timber yields and cutting cycle

Three sources of information about timber yields and the appropriate length of the cutting cycle are available in Suriname: the results of the last (1974) national forest inventory (FAO, 1975); research into the CELOS silvicultural and harvesting system carried-out by a range of institutions over the last two decades (see, for example, von Bodegom, undated); and the results of discussions with forest managers during the course of this study.

The 1974 National Forest Inventory (1974 NFI) presents a little information about the potential harvest of commercial species that might be obtained in Suriname. It suggests that between 15 m³/ha and 20 m³/ha of commercial timber species may be obtained on average from the forests of Suriname, given the number of species that were considered as commercial at the time. It also notes however, that if all the species that were considered as potentially commercial were to be included in this calculation, the harvest volume would rise to around 50 m³/ha. The inventory doesn't say anything about management of the subsequent crop other than to note that regeneration of commercial species seems quite poor and that future silviculture should take this into account.

Research into the CELOS silvicultural and harvesting systems provides information about yield, harvesting intensity and presents a recommendation about the appropriate length of the cutting cycle. The research suggests that, without silvicultural treatment, growth of commercial species in the forests of Suriname may be as low as 0.2 m³/ha/year. With a series of refinements, it suggests that this yield can be increased to 2.0 m³/ha/year. The research also suggests that an appropriate level of harvesting intensity in Suriname might be 5 sph - 10 sph (which it equates to about 20 m³/ha - 30 m³/ha) on a cutting cycle of 25 years.

Discussions with forest managers during this study highlighted tw o problems with trying to estimate yield in the forests of Suriname. Firstly, many loggers are currently harvesting in areas that have been logged many times before (one logger quoted five previous companies, which had already worked in the area he was currently working in). This is partly due to the fact that, because of the uncertainty of tenure, very few logging operations are willing to invest in road building to open up new areas of forest, which might then be given to somebody else. The effect of this continuous re-logging is that the maximum volume many operators could probably cut in the areas they are currently working in is probably much lower than the volumes suggested by the 1974 NFI and CELOS research.

The second problem highlighted is that many loggers are currently actually choosing not to take all commercial species, but rather the small number of species that they currently market or have orders for (this partly explains why they are then able to go in and re-log previously cut areas again and again). It is therefore, somewhat difficult to estimate what a reasonable total commercial harvesting intensity in Suriname might actually be.

Only one logging operation visited (number 5) was fairly certain that they were working in an area which had not been logged before and appeared to be taking a wide range of commercial species (about 20). This operation reported that they were taking about 8 sph - 10 sph (roughly 16 m³/ha - 20 m³/ha) of commercial species greater than about 50 cm dbh.

Given the current uncertainty about growth and yield in the forests of Suriname, it would seem wise to take a conservative view about the appropriate harvesting intensity and length of cutting cycle which should be used in Suriname. It was agreed that, due to past logging activities, harvesting intensity might vary between 12 m³/ha and 20 m³/ha depending on how much the forest has been disturbed in the past. With respect to yield and the length of the cutting cycle however, it was much more difficult to reach a consensus. In terms of yield, it was felt that somewhere between the two figures quoted by CELOS research was probably about right and a figure of 0.8 m³/ha has been used in this study. Assuming that the harvesting intensity in undisturbed forest should be around 20 m³/ha, this would suggest a cutting cycle of 25 years (as recommended by the CELOS researchers). This seems a little short, but has also been used in this analysis. A summary of these assumptions made in order to estimate forestry production costs is given in Table 40.

Table 40 Assumptions about harvesting intensity, yield and cutting cycle used in the calculation of forestry production costs in Suriname

Source: Assumptions made after discussions with forest managers and LBB staff

Sawmills and traders in forest products in Suriname

The last major survey of sawmills in Suriname was carried-out by LBB in 1990. Some of the information collected has been lost and the number and scale of mills operating in the sector had changed somewhat since then. In addition to the sawmills, a number of traders have also recently begun to operate in the forestry sector (mostly buying roundwood and forest products for export). An effort was made during this study therefore, to try to update the databases of sawmills and traders currently working in the forestry sector in Suriname. A revised estimate of the sawmilling and sawnwood trading sectors in Suriname is given in Table 41.

Table 41 Sawmill location, capacity, production and trade in Suriname (1990, partially updated to 1998)

Source: 1990 sawmill survey (LBB), partially updated to 1998 by the author

The current status of sawmilling and sawnwood trading activities in Suriname is briefly described below.

Number of sawmills. It is estimated that there are currently 68 sawmills in Suriname. Five sawmills are small portable bandsaw mills (one in Paramaribo (Bosmij) and four in the forest) and the remainder are larger mills using stationary sawmilling equipment. At least five sawmills are not operating at the moment (possibly more). About half of the sawmills in Suriname are located in or near Paramaribo. Most of the others are also located close to the coast.

Sawmilling capacity. Information about sawmilling capacity is available for 35 sawmills (the 33 other sawmills are believed to be relatively small). Based on this information, the total sawmilling capacity in Suriname (assuming one shift working) is at least 455,000 m³ roundwood intake per year. By making a conservative estimate of the capacity of the 33 other sawmills, total capacity might be closer to 600,000 m³ roundwood intake per year. Over half of the known sawmilling capacity in Suriname is in Paramaribo. Other large mills or groups of mills are located in Nickerie, Moengo, Para and Saramacca. There is considerable variation in the size of sawmills operating in Suriname. The largest five mills account for about 45% of known sawmilling capacity, but the majority of sawmills in Suriname are in the range of 5,000 m³/year to 15,000 m³/year roundwood input. The distribution of sawmilling capacity by size of mill is shown in Figure 2 below.