Chapter 6: Assessment of Non-financial Factors Associated with Uneven-aged Systems

The previous chapters have considered the financial penalties involved in changing from an even-aged system to an uneven-aged system, the relative cost increases or decreases associated with various scales of working in the uneven-aged forest, and the influence of other variables such as the length of the transformation period, age at which transformation begins, and type of harvest system. Apart from these quantified differences between the two systems there are a whole host of costs and benefits which have not been included in the simulation model, either because detailed data are not available or because certain benefits have not been quantified. However, with the information available it is possible to make some generalizations and to consider the effect of some of the variables mentioned above (i.e. group size, transformation period, age at which transformation begins and type of harvest system) on these costs and benefits. The aim of this chapter is to provide an assessment of non-financial factors, in addition to the financial costs, to help in decision-makingThe conclusions from this chapter are summarised in Figure 6.5 (page 161).