OPTIMAL MOSO BAMBOO FOREST MANAGEMENT: A DYNAMIC MODEL

Abstract

Moso bamboo forest management involves making decisions about the timing and quantity of bamboo stem harvests and bamboo shoot harvests. In my Masters thesis, I solve for the optimal bamboo stem harvest and bamboo shoot harvest policy using a numerical dynamic model that nests an inner finite-horizon within-year daily dynamic programming problem within an outer finite-horizon between-year annual dynamic programming problem. I use a Chapman-Richards growth function as my model for bamboo biomass accumulation. I compare the optimal bamboo stem harvest and bamboo shoot thinning policy with actual data on bamboo shoot and bamboo stem harvests on multiple bamboo plots in multiple townships in Zhejiang province in China. I find that while the actual bamboo stem and bamboo shoot harvests come close to approximating the optimal harvesting policy, there are some differences between actual harvests and optimal bamboo harvests. My results have important implications for bamboo forest management and, to the extent that some of the differences between actual harvests and optimal bamboo harvests reflect possible sub-optimal behavior on the part of Moso bamboo forest managers, for ways to improve Moso bamboo forest management and policy.