Sustainable Harvesting Model on Forest Plantation

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2013-05-13
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A study was conducted to develop an environmentally sound strategy for sustainable harvesting of tree crops of Begoro Forest Plantation. Its three main objectives were; firstly, to estimate current harvesting rates, secondly, to show how the biomass stock is changing in response to growth rates, harvesting rates and planting rates; and finally, using a mathematical model to predict sustainable levels of harvesting the tree crops. This study was focused on a section of the Begoro Forest Plantation. Data on planted area (compartments), tree growth, damage and harvesting were collected and analysed using Linest function Excel software. Results indicate that the total biomass of Teak and Cebrela is generally increasing with time. Using the Logistic equation, the following maximum sustainable harvesting efforts were computed: for Teak representing a present harvesting rate cubic meters per year and for Cebrela representing a present harvesting rate cubic meters per year. This gives a maximum sustainable harvesting effort of about representing a present harvesting rate of about cubic meters per year. Therefore, to ensure sustainability of the forest plantation, it is recommended that the Forestry Department should restrict harvesting to stands at rotation and thinning ages and such activities should not exceed an effort of.
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Mathematics of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Partial Fulfillment to the Requirement for the award of Master of Science Degree in Industrial Mathematics.2013
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