The thesis first objective was to develop field instructions for forest planning of native forests in Andean Patagonia, and the second objective was to test the plan on an actual property in the area. The thesis was limited to studies in the province of Rio Negro. Today, there are no official forest management plans for native forests in the Argentinean province of Rio Negro; thus, there is an obvious need for an official forest management plan with clear guidelines. To be granted permission to manage, i.e. through thinning, the native forests on a property it is required to have a forest management plan that is approved by the Forestry Board in the province in question (Thill, B. 2006/2007).
The methodology of the thesis was as follows: first, an thorough examination of the general conditions of forests, forest laws and forest uses and values in the region was undertaken, and then, the Swedish methodology for forest management plans was adapted to fit the Patagonian circumstances. The field study was carried out on a property dominated by the tree species Coihue (Nothofagus dombeyi) and the Cordilleran Cypress (Austrocedrus chilensis) in the El Manso-valley south of the city of Bariloche.
The results are presented as two appendices:
• Appendix 1- A field instruction for forest management planning
• Appendix 2- An example of a forest management plan for a property in the Rio Negro province
The following are conclusions based on the study:
• The making of forest management plans in the province of Rio Negro should be based on multi-use planning. Multi-use planning entails taking into consideration the many different benefits from that come from forested land like timber, berry picking and recreation.
• It is of great importance to be versatile and flexible during inventory or proposing forestry measures since there are many different interests like tourism, timber production, firewood extraction, nature conservation and other types of forest products and services that must be weighed together if the Rio Negron forests are to be sustainably managed.
• Similar to Swedish forests, the Andean Patagonian forests are relatively homogeneous and can be stratified into compartments according to species, density and age. This homogeneity is due to the presence of a relatively few number of species and to the forest being in various stages of succession after forest fires.
• The author is convinced that with ...
