New Model for Estimating Timber Volume in Papua's Forests

Image: article cover, from Freddy and Kuswandi (2019), Jurnal Wasian, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

A team of researchers from the Manokwari Forestry and Environmental Research and Development Centre has developed a timber volume estimation model for commercial tree species in the logging concession area of PT Tunas Timber Lestari, Sesnukt District, Boven Digul Regency, Papua Province. The study, published in the Journal Wasian in 2019, was carried out by Freddy, Freddy Jontara Hutapea and Relawan Kuswandi. The model is important because existing volume estimation models have not yet represented the forest ecosystem types of Papua.

The results show that tree diameter does not have a strong correlation with tree height. The timber volume estimation model must therefore be constructed by combining diameter and tree height. From 164 trees used to build the model and 50 trees used for validation, the best model produced was V = 0.00007594 D1.978 H0.923. In this formula, V is timber volume, D is diameter and H is tree height.

For forest managers in Papua, this model can help estimate timber potential more accurately for commercial tree species. Accurate volume estimation is an important component of sustainable forest management, particularly for calculating felling yields and planning forest utilisation.

Source and how to cite

This story is based on the research article Timber Volume Estimation Model for Commercial Tree Species in the Logging Area Concession of PT. Tunas Timber Lestari in Boven Digul, Papua by Freddy Jontara Hutapea Freddy and Relawan Kuswandi Kuswandi, published in Jurnal Wasian Vol. 6 No. 1 (2019). The full article is free to read on the Jurnal Wasian website.

Cite the original article (APA 7):

Freddy, F. J. H., & Kuswandi, R. K. (2019). Timber Volume Estimation Model for Commercial Tree Species in the Logging Area Concession of PT. Tunas Timber Lestari in Boven Digul, Papua. Jurnal Wasian, 6(1), 27–36. https://doi.org/10.62142/dbnjwd28

If you use these findings in coursework, a thesis or other writing, cite the original article above, not this news story. The original article is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.