Abstract
Since 1991, the central theme of Taiwan’s forestry policy reforms has been the conservation
of forest resources. In recent years, the domestic harvest volume has remained far below the
timber harvest limit. This research examined whether the trend in the decreasing volume of
timber harvested is a result of the forestry conservation policy in national forest management.
Using data of the recorded harvest volume and production volume in Forestry Statistics
published by Taiwan Forestry Bureau (TFB) during 1991 and 2013, this study explored
changing patterns of harvest volume and production volume of various forest ownerships
over the years and analyzed the effectiveness and efficiencies of different forest owner types.
The research findings indicated that the timber production volume has been in decline within
state-run national forests, which is in accordance with the conservation-based forestry policy.
In contrast, in national forests run by private foresters and in private forests, the effectiveness
of management is better as evidenced by their greater harvested volumes. In terms of the
harvested volume per unit of forest area, national forests run by private foresters also performed better than state-run national forests. With regard to tree species for timber, results showed that coniferous trees are dominant in both national forests run by private foresters and state-run
national forests, while deciduous trees are mainly found in private forests. Therefore, it is
suggested that the government should assist both owner types of national forest holdings run
by private foresters and private forests for forest management in planning and strategizing
domestic timber production. The study also simulated the required harvest area to increase to
a 1% wood self-sufficiency rate. The required harvest area of national forests run by private
foresters is projected to be 149.3~161.1 ha, state-run national forests is projected to
be 269.8~341.2 ha, and private forests is projected to be 88~120.8 ha.