Can increased efficiency translate into forest conservation?
Efficiency becomes associated with conservation because it is assumed that investments in efficiency will produce greater volumes of processed output without generating increased demand for raw materials. Yet, there is little evidence to indicate that either logging companies or processing firms would voluntarily place a cap on their earnings by restricting the volume of timber they harvest or process, if access to this timber were not otherwise constrained. On the contrary, basic economic theory would suggest that firms able to raise profits through increased efficiency would have an incentive to expand their operations, thereby increasing their demand for logs. Source: Barr, 2000 Second, as also suggested by Barr (2000), access to timber needs to be restricted to literally force wood processors to make more use of residues and to increase recovery rates. While such restrictions are sure to be opposed by a number of stakeholders in the forestry sector, the imposition of harvesting res
