Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach

Management of natural forests in Costa Rica allows timber extraction in so far as it is guaranteed that the logging activities comply with diverse Sustainability Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCIs). These are hierarchical and complex systems used, ex-ante in the formulation and approval of th...

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Main Authors: Cynthia Salas-Garita, Mario Soliño
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
Series:Forests
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/10/832
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spelling doaj-aa1f6e8a378e4c17a1b864cdabb310e32020-11-25T02:42:11ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072019-09-01101083210.3390/f10100832f10100832Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment ApproachCynthia Salas-Garita0Mario Soliño1Costa Rica Institute of Technology, Forest Engineering School, Forest Innovation Research Center, DOCINADE student, Campus Cartago 30101, Costa RicaDepartment of Economic Analysis & ICEI, Complutense University of Madrid, Campus of Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, SpainManagement of natural forests in Costa Rica allows timber extraction in so far as it is guaranteed that the logging activities comply with diverse Sustainability Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCIs). These are hierarchical and complex systems used, ex-ante in the formulation and approval of the Management Plan but have not been used for ex-post evaluation of managed forests. Development of sustainability evaluation systems that include few criteria is highly recommended. In that sense, the choice experiments contribute to simplification of the initial system of decision making, complementing a complex system of PCIs that permits detailed analysis of the management units. In this study, a choice experiment was included in a Delphi application and 5 key variables were identified to evaluate the sustainability of managed natural forests. These variables are, in order of importance—technical, legal and administrative conditions; external financing conditions; production performance; costs of preparing the Management Plan; and payment mechanisms for environmental services. The definition of these variables confirms not only that the technical, legal and administrative conditions are critical for sustainability but also that they could reflect the type of governance involved in sustainability forest management.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/10/832expertstakeholderstated preferencessurveytropical humid forest
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Cynthia Salas-Garita
Mario Soliño
spellingShingle Cynthia Salas-Garita
Mario Soliño
Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach
Forests
expert
stakeholder
stated preferences
survey
tropical humid forest
author_facet Cynthia Salas-Garita
Mario Soliño
author_sort Cynthia Salas-Garita
title Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach
title_short Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach
title_full Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach
title_fullStr Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach
title_full_unstemmed Estimating the Sustainability of Managed Natural Forests in Costa Rica—A Hybrid Delphi & Choice Experiment Approach
title_sort estimating the sustainability of managed natural forests in costa rica—a hybrid delphi & choice experiment approach
publisher MDPI AG
series Forests
issn 1999-4907
publishDate 2019-09-01
description Management of natural forests in Costa Rica allows timber extraction in so far as it is guaranteed that the logging activities comply with diverse Sustainability Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCIs). These are hierarchical and complex systems used, ex-ante in the formulation and approval of the Management Plan but have not been used for ex-post evaluation of managed forests. Development of sustainability evaluation systems that include few criteria is highly recommended. In that sense, the choice experiments contribute to simplification of the initial system of decision making, complementing a complex system of PCIs that permits detailed analysis of the management units. In this study, a choice experiment was included in a Delphi application and 5 key variables were identified to evaluate the sustainability of managed natural forests. These variables are, in order of importance—technical, legal and administrative conditions; external financing conditions; production performance; costs of preparing the Management Plan; and payment mechanisms for environmental services. The definition of these variables confirms not only that the technical, legal and administrative conditions are critical for sustainability but also that they could reflect the type of governance involved in sustainability forest management.
topic expert
stakeholder
stated preferences
survey
tropical humid forest
url https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/10/832
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