The role of forestry in the socio-economic development of Polands agricultural region (input-output analysis)

The study was undertaken in the region of the Białowieża Primeval Forest (Białowieża, Browsk, and Hajnówka Forest Districts – FDs), which has a total area of 52 thousand hectares and is situated in the agricultural zone of north-eastern Poland. The study used an input-output (I-O) analysis to explore: 1) the type and strength of relationships between forest management and its socio-economic environment, and 2) the role and significance of forestry in the development of the region. The forest sector (FDs) employed 452 people, with salaries totalling USD 1.6 million/yr. FDs supplied the socio-economic environment with the generated cash flows (taxes and dues) amounting to USD 4.8 million/yr, enabling creation of 413 jobs outside forestry. FDs supplied goods and services for the amount of USD 5.2 million/yr, mainly revenues from the sale of 120,000 m3 of harvested wood. The wood-processing industry employed 1,111 people, and was also a source of taxes and dues amounting to USD 1.7 million/yr. Fifteen jobs were created per 1,000 m3 of harvested, sold, and processed wood: 2 in FDs, 4 in the firms providing goods and services, and 9 in the recipients of goods and services. Simultaneously, this was a source of taxes amounting to USD 26.0/yr, of which USD 11.0 thousand/yr was paid by FDs, USD 1.4 thousand/yr by the environment of suppliers, and USD 13.6 thousand/yr by the environment of recipients.

Przemysław Szmit