Sustainable Supply of Timber Resources for Wood Processing Industry in Latvia

Forest industry consists of two related industries - forestry and wood processing. Wood processing industry, which is a direct consumer of timber resources generated by forestry sector, wants to know with what kind and what amount of round wood they can count on in long term period in territory of Latvia. Every five years State Forest Service calculates cutting volumes for the state owned forests based on models which do not guarantee safe long term income maximization. Long term cutting volumes and assortments in privately owned forests have not been analyzed very deeply. Therefore in autumn 2010 in Latvia University of Agriculture Forest faculty was carried out project with the aim to estimate hypothetic amount of different timber resources what could be available in the territory of Latvia for wood processing industry within next hundred years. Additionally geographic location of timber resources and woodworking companies was examined. Research results showed that forests in Latvia are not being depleted and current annual cutting volumes could be increased. Geographic observation of primary wood processing companies showed that most of them are located close to large cities or near main roads of Latvia. This location makes easier round wood deliveries to factory and facilitates transportation of produced goods to an end customer. To clarify where and what profile (softwood or hardwood) production volumes should be increased, model of timber resource demand indicator was implemented.