ECON2255-4

Duration

12h Th, 12h Pr

Number of credits

	Master in forests and natural areas engineering (120 ECTS)	2 crédits

Lecturer

Jacques Hebert

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Principles of forest valuation. Concepts of various values. Discounting and compounding. Appraisal from investment or future income. Land and timber stocking. Implementation of the principles of valuation of forests using a spreadsheet. Property valuation. Land expectation value. Mistakes to avoid. Case of even-aged forests regenerated by planting and natural regeneration. Value of a tree in the forest. Criteria for forest management. Faustmann criterion. Net present value. Internal rate of return. Inflation. Other criteria. Comparison of projects. Data sources. Expertise. Some new approaches on discounting.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Provides understanding and familiarity with economic tools contributing to making competent decisions in resource economics, management and policy.
After completing the course the student is expected to
- be deeply involved in financial analysis and its language;
- analyse tree and stands decisions under financial objectives;
- understand the concepts and methods of economics used to assess values and for analysing the trade off in multiple use forestry;
- be aware how to apply the practical application of economy in the management of forests and forest policy analysis;
- recognize and be aware how to evaluate project and planning alternatives.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Multifunctional management of forests Forest products supply chain Forest mensuration and forest inventory

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Lectures: 4 x 1h30 Meeting with a professional: 1h30 Practical works: 7 x 1h30

Assessment methods and criteria

Practical examination with PC (100%)
Ongoing assessment (no examination in June)

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

HEBERT Jacques
Bât. GE Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech Passage des Déportés 2 5030 Gembloux Belgique
+32 81 622295 jhebert@ulg.ac.be(jrondeux@ulg.ac.be)

Forest and natural resources economics