Comparison of Economic Efficiency of Management Systems with Prevailing Representation of Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) in the Territory of Křivoklátsko Forest Park (Czech Republic)
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Please add an introduction to Chapter 2.
I recommend to provide the answers to the following questions into chapter 2.2 concerning the methodology of work with explanation of:
- Why did the authors use the NPV method?
- What risks result from incorrect quantification of revenues and costs due to the using of NPV method?
The discussion on line 285-292 deals with the risk of incorrectly determined interest rates. Could be the level of risk nowadays more affected by the volatility of prices as well as the volume of harvesting and the quality of the extracted oak assortments?
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 comments – 1st
Firstly we would like to really thank the reviewer for the comments. The comment were really useful and absolutely to the point. We hope that we followed all the corrections needed and that the article is now better than before the review.
1) Why did the authors use the NPV method?
Response 1: In the course of history, two basic approaches (so-called schools) have arisen, which conceive the benefits of forest (revenues) and deposits in it (costs) in terms of calculations quite differently. The authors come out from the “School of the highest net yield from the soil” when the forest is understood as an investment project. The basic international method that is used to assess the effectiveness of investments in the calculation of the net present value of the investment (NPV), which works with a time factor – see line 125-130
2) What risks result from incorrect quantification of revenues and costs due to the using of NPV method?
Response 2: The evaluation of profitability (NPV) is based on the prediction of monetary expenditures and income from the investment, not on estimates of accrued (accounting) costs and revenues. Investments are assessed through three criteria: return on investment, risk, and repayment (liquidity) of the investment. In calculating that take into time-factor, interest rates and the length of the production cycle (rotation period) play a crucial role. At a higher rotation period (over about 100 years) and interest rates of about 3% and above, investment in forests often results in a negative outcome. If we consider a forest as a pure investment project, such an investment should be rejected, or the investor would have to settle for a lower interest rate – see line 130-137
3) The discussion on line 285-292 deals with the risk of incorrectly determined interest rates. Could be the level of risk nowadays more affected by the volatility of prices as well as the volume of harvesting and the quality of the extracted oak assortments?
Response 3: Most forest-related calculations work in the Czech Republic with the so-called “forest interest rate”, which is usually 2% (for example, the Annex to Act No. 289/1995 Coll., On Forests).-calculation of withdrawal fee, or calculations pursuant to Decree No. 55/1999 Coll., On the method of calculation of the amount of damage or damage caused to forests). The authors come out based on the above, but on the other hand, in the current emergency situation in the forestry of the Czech Republic (influence of bark beetle calamity, climate change, etc.), these aspects can certainly influence the level of risk.
From your recommendations on the article, it is not entirely clear whether this information needs to be anchored in the article text or is it just a question for clarifying the methodology.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
- Introduction
You mention only the current state of your country, but readers are all over the world. Please describe that the problem awareness of this study is common in other countries for the reader's interest. - Line 52
andf -> and - Line 100
I can't read from Figure 1 where Prague is. Is the case study area a green area? - Line 124-126
There are three explanations for “t”. - Line 130
Overmature coppice. Other pages describe it as reserved coppice. Are these the same? If so, unify the words. Please take English editing service. - Line 137
Please indicate as USD. - Table 2
What does “tsd.” mean? The unit of Revenues is CZK / unit. What does this unit stand for? One tree? 1ha forest? - Table 4
There are duplicate rows. Please delete it. - Figure 3
Chart has no units. - Figure 4
(c)‒(f) have up to 15 age classes. But (a) and (b) only have up to 4. Why? - Conclusion
Readers of this journal are all over the world. Please discuss how the findings obtained in this study can be applied in other countries for the reader's interest.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 comments – 1st
Firstly we would like to really thank the reviewer for the comments. The comment was really useful and absolutely to the point. We hope that we followed all the corrections needed and that the article is now better than before the review.
- Introduction: You mention only the current state of your country, but readers are all over the world. Please describe that the problem awareness of this study is common in other countries for the reader's interest.
Response 1: Accepted. The text has been reworked following the recommendation of Reviewer – see line 95-97
- Line 52: andf -> and
Response 2: Accepted. The text has been reworked following the recommendation of Reviewer – see line 52
- Line 100 I can't read from Figure 1 where Prague is. Is the case study area a green area?
Response 3: Accepted. The text has been reworked following the recommendation of Reviewer – see line 102; 112 and figure 1
- Line 124-126 There are three explanations for “t”.
Response 4: Accepted. The text has been reworked following the recommendation of Reviewer – see line 147-148
- Line 130 Overmature coppice. Other pages describe it as reserved coppice. Are these the same? If so, unify the words. Please take English editing service.
Response 5: Accepted. The text has been reworked following the recommendation of Reviewer – see line 173; 246; 247
- Line 137 Please indicate as USD.
Response 6: Accepted. The text has been reworked following the recommendation of Reviewer – see line 160
- Table 2 What does “tsd.” mean? The unit of Revenues is CZK / unit. What does this unit stand for? One tree? 1ha forest?
Response 7: Accepted. This is the number of seedlings per hectare, therefore the "thousand" unit was used, but the abbreviation was changed – see table 2.
- Table 4 There are duplicate rows. Please delete it.
Response 8: Accepted. Duplicate rows have been deleted following the recommendation of Reviewer – see Table 4
- Figure 3 Chart has no units.
Response 9: The figure has been reworked following recommendation of Reviewer – see figure 3
- Figure 4 (c)‒(f) have up to 15 age classes. But (a) and (b) only have up to 4. Why?
Response 10: This is one of the four cycles of coppice rotation (4 x 37.5 years = 150 years of a high forest) a more detailed explanation is part of the methodology, see line 189-190. After your revision, we found an incorrect description of our figure 4 so it was modified accordingly – see line 243-248
- Conclusion: Readers of this journal are all over the world. Please discuss how the findings obtained in this study can be applied in other countries for the reader's interest.
Response 11: Accepted. Authors of the article believe, that the discussion of the article sufficiently explains the context and possibilities of using the results listed in the article. To clarify the use of the results, the last part of the conclusion was slightly modified – see line 381-382
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
