The Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) has been involved in several cost-benefit analysis studies surrounding the effectiveness
of Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) in delivering economic benefits to tropical regions, timber organizations and trade communities. In 2000, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, TFF demonstrated that the cost of RIL in tropical forests is 12 percent less than the Conventional Logging (CL) method
and the land disturbed by RIL is nearly half that of land disturbed by CL.

The study, “Financial Costs and Benefits of Reduced Impact Logging in the Eastern Amazon,” which was completed
by TFF under the direction of Dr. Thomas Holmes at the USDA Forest Service, compared cost efficiencies and economic returns of RIL with CL practices at TFF’s on-site projects in the Brazilian Amazon and marked the first of several in-depth studies completed by TFF’s  partners.

Studies have shown:

• Wood wasted in CL operations represents about 24 percent of the recovered harvest volume, compared to only 8 percent in RIL operations
• For every 100 trees felled on a CL block (100 hectares), 38 trees (commercial or potentially commercial) were fatally damaged, compared to only 17 trees in a RIL block
• Ground area disturbed per tree harvested was about 60 percent greater on the CL block relative to the RIL block
• Tractor and log storage productivity increased dramatically for the typical RIL operation and led to a 37 percent reduction in cost relative to CL operations
• Better recovery of potential marketable timber volume on the typical RIL site decreased direct cost associated with waste by 78 percent and decreased stumpage costs by 16 percent

The Brazil program’s success in demonstrating the economic benefits of RIL resulted in an expansion of TFF programs in Brazil over the past eight years. TFF is also working on sites in Guyana, Indonesia and across Southeast Asia, as well as TFF’s newest project in theCongo Basin. Thanks to the efficiencies of RIL, the yield of timber is higher, meaning the economic returns are greater.