Economic Assessment and Management of Agroforestry Productivity from the Perspective of Sustainable Land Use in the South of the Russian Plain

Abstract

Recent international climate documents emphasize the great importance of the afforestation of agricultural land having a positive impact on CO2 levels, not only by absorbing carbon by trees, but also by replacing fossil fuels with biomass. In Russia, until recently, the importance of forest plantations in the production of wood was underestimated, which created the problem of its accounting and effective management. When justifying modern protective afforestation programs, ambiguity in the estimates of tree productivity of plantings is one of the reasons for significant uncertainty regarding their impact on the energy security of the country. The purpose of this study was to undertake an economic assessment and assess the regularities of the dynamics of tree productivity of protective forest plantations on the flat terrain and slopes of the forest-steppe zone in the south of the Russian Plain for the effective management of agroforestry taking into account environmental aspects. At the level of the simulation unit—the protective forest cover of the agricultural territory—the main forest reclamation strategies were modeled from the perspective of sustainable land use, depending on the type of relief, the level of forest protection of land and the erosive state of soils. These models comprehensively analyzed the wood productivity of the main forest-forming species, which differ in functionality and service life. It is established that the productivity of 1 ha of forest stands in the forest-steppe is 320–400 m3 of wood, and the commercial effect of its harvesting is EUR 14675–EUR 56567. The specific (per 1 ha of land use) wood productivity of trees on flat terrain increases with the growth of forest protection of the site (due to the reduction of inter-band space) by 1.2–1.8 times. On the slopes, with an increase in their steepness, the specific effect of harvesting wood also increases by almost twofold. On steep slopes with highly eroded soils, the efficiency of forest reclamation decreases by 23%–24% due to a decrease in the width of forest stands and the inclusion of a hydraulic element in their systems. The use of long-lasting forest-forming species for all forest reclamation strategies is more profitable than the use of fast-growing species—the value of the specific average annual (discounted) income per 1 ha of the agroforest landscape is, respectively, EUR 427–EUR 970 and EUR 166–EUR 545. The study will confirm the need to finance forest reclamation measures not only to ensure sustainable rural development, but also Russia’s qualitative transition to a low-carbon economy.