How Standing Timber Is Valued: Per Tree, Acre, m3

How is a forest valued?

Valuers follow the same order of work for any standing crop.

1. Count the trees, usually from sample plots rather than every stem.
2. Measure diameter, and height where needed, to place each tree in a grade.
3. Price each grade using dated buyer evidence.
4. Deduct the cost of felling, cross-cutting, extraction and haulage, because a buyer will.
5. State the error, so the reader knows how far the total could move.

EUCA Eco Consults, a Ugandan forestry consultancy, sets out similar logic on its August 2026 price page: an inventory should use systematic plots, diameter and height, and volume by grade, and the plot layout and measurement approach should be stated so that a buyer can check it. It also advises pricing against measured volume instead of accepting a lump sum for a block nobody has measured, because buyers tend to price an unmeasured block defensively and offer less.

Two other points matter. First, most growers sell a block of standing trees, and the buyer takes on felling, extraction and grading. The price you can get therefore depends on road access, distance to market, season and how many buyers you approach. Second, on a Land and Property forest listing the sale is for the trees only. The land is not included, and the harvest deadline is negotiable with the seller. The value in this guide is the value of trees, not of land.

What is DBH and why do grades depend on it?

DBH means diameter at breast height. The Canadian Forest Service glossary defines breast height as "the standard height, 1.3 m above ground level, at which the diameter of a standing tree is measured", and on sloping ground it is usually taken on the uphill side of the tree. A tape or calipers is used. Foresters use DBH because it is quick, repeatable and linked to the volume in the stem.

Height adds the second part of volume. A simple way to see it: a cylinder of wood has a volume that rises with the square of the diameter, so a modest increase in diameter lifts volume sharply. That is one reason the price step between grades can be large, as EUCA notes in its guide on eucalyptus harvest age. Our guide to how to check the number of trees before you pay shows how counts and measurements are taken on site.

Be careful with published DBH thresholds. Buyers do not grade by DBH alone. EUCA says pole prices depend mainly on length class, top diameter, straightness and taper, and treatment. We found no public, sourced table of DBH cut-offs for Uganda, so we do not print one. Ask each buyer for their written specification, then convert it to a DBH range for your trees with a forester.

For a faster-growing species the diameter you reach by a given age can be large. As an example only, a technical specification for a smallholder carbon project in Bushenyi reports musizi (Maesopsis) at 25 cm DBH by age 7 and 40 cm by age 11 within its optimum range. That is a different species and a project assumption, not a eucalyptus or pine grade.

What are the grade prices and what do they depend on?

Public, dated prices are thin, and we show only what we could source. Treat them as indications, not offers.

The InfoNile report said the same tree could have cost four times more before the 24 May 2023 presidential directive on unprocessed timber, according to a source in the article. Older press promises of much higher per-tree prices no longer match this evidence, so we do not quote them. When you take a price from any site, write down its date and the grade it applies to. A pole price is not a standing-tree price, because the buyer still has to fell, trim, haul and treat the pole.

Our standing timber calculator lets you test your own numbers. For species-specific questions see the value of a pine plantation per acre and pine vs eucalyptus.

What costs are taken off, and how are young stands valued?

A buyer works backwards from the sale price of the product. Costs that come off include felling, cross-cutting into lengths, extraction to the road, loading, haulage, any permit fees and the buyer's margin. We found no current, sourced cost per tree for Uganda, so the worked example below leaves costs as a line to fill in from your own quotes. Our guide to fees on a tree sale and the permits page list the charges that may apply.

Young stands are different. Before trees reach a saleable size, nobody can say what they will be worth, so one common method is to value them at cost: add up what was actually spent on land preparation, seedlings, planting and weeding to date. This is a method choice, not a law. As a dated cost example only, a World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) record of a teak plantation in Lamwo District, northern Uganda, started in 2012, lists establishment costs of UGX 1,420,000 for 5 acres at that time. Costs have moved since, so use it to see which items count, not as today's price.

For a cost-based figure to be fair, the stand must be healthy and the records real. A buyer can fairly ask for receipts or photographs, and the seller can fairly ask to be paid more if trees are well established and close to a market.

How does sampling error affect the answer?

A count from sample plots is an estimate. If a valuer measures a small share of the block, the total can be higher or lower than the truth. A good report states the sampling method, the plot size, the share of the block measured and the error at a stated confidence level. EUCA says the plot layout and measurement approach should be stated so that buyers can check the figures.

We do not quote an error range, because the figures we have seen come from private sample reports we cannot cite. What you can do is make the contract handle the uncertainty. A buyer paying per tree can agree a count check at harvest. A lump sum can include a true-up if the felled count differs from the estimate by more than an agreed share. Our guide to per tree, per acre or lump sum compares these options and the standing timber sale contract page lists the clauses.

What does a worked example look like?

Illustration only. The numbers below are hypothetical and are not Land and Property prices or market evidence. They show the order of the sum.

The 200 trees per acre match the InfoNile description of an acre of mature trees. They also fit a common thinning pattern: a WOCAT northern Uganda record of clonal eucalyptus shows 1,100 trees per hectare planted at 3 m by 3 m and thinned to about 450 per hectare, which is roughly 182 per acre. Always count your own block.

What are stumpage, bank valuations and disputes?

Stumpage is the price a feller pays the owner for standing timber, before felling and hauling. We found no definition of stumpage in the Ugandan statute we read (the National Forestry and Tree Planting Act, 2003), so this is the working trade meaning, not a legal term. In a contract, "price per tree" or "price per acre" is usually a stumpage price.

A formal valuation is worth paying for when a bank, a court or a co-owner is involved. We suggest asking the valuer for a report that states: the date of valuation, the area and boundaries measured, the species and age, the sample method and error, the grades and prices used with their sources, the costs deducted, and the assumptions about access and market. A report that gives one number with no workings is hard to defend. If a dispute arises, a signed count and a dated photograph set are the best evidence.

The same discipline applies to buildings. For a house or apartment, see how to value a house or apartment in Uganda. To see how a sale is structured, list your trees for sale, land not included, or browse forest and tree listings as they appear.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Forest Trees for Sale in Uganda: Standing Pine and Eucalyptus
• Pine vs Eucalyptus: Which Is the Better Investment?
• How to Check the Number of Trees Before You Pay
• Per Tree, Per Acre or Lump Sum: Which Protects You?
• Standing Timber Sale Contract: 12 Clauses Sellers Need
• How Much Is My Pine Plantation Worth?