EFFORTE is a research and innovation project providing the European forestry sector with new knowledge and knowhow that will significantly improve the possibilities of forest enterprises to assemble and adopt novel technologies and procedures.
The project aims at enhanced efficiency in forest operations, sustainable forestry (i.e. less environmental burden caused by forest operations), an increased forest growth, a cost-competitive bio-based industry and an acceleration of the regional economic development. The project is based on three key elements of technology and knowhow:
1) Basic understanding of fundamentals of soil mechanics, and terrain trafficability is a crucial starting point to avoid soil disturbances, accelerate machine mobility and assess persistence of soil compaction and rutting. The key findings and recommendations of trafficability related to EFFORTE can immediately be adapted in all European countries.
2) Due to decreasing cost-competitive of manual work and maturity of technology it is now perfect time to realize the potential of mechanization in silvicultural operations. EFFORTE pursues for higher productivity and efficiency in silvicultural operations such as tree planting and young stand cleaning operations.
3) ‘Big Data’ (geospatial as well as data from forestry processes and common information e.g. weather data) provides a huge opportunity to increase the efficiency of forest operations. In addition it adds new possibilities to connect knowledge of basic conditions (e.g. trafficabillity), efficient silviculture and harvesting actions with demand and expectations from forest industries and the society. Accurate spatial information makes it possible for forestry to move from classic stand-wise management to precision forestry, i.e. micro stand level, grid cell level or tree-by-tree management. EFFORTE aims at achieving substantial influence to the implementation and improved use of Big Data within Forestry and through this increase cost-efficiency and boost new business opportunities to small and medium size enterprises (SME) in the Bio-Economy.
EFFORTE researchers will develop and pilot precision forestry applications that, according to industrial project partners, show the greatest potential for getting implemented immediately after the project.