Topography, harvester data and air-borne laser scanning: better predictions of the site index and regeneration planning

Swedish forestry is undergoing large changes in order to meet increasing demands of renewable raw material as a substitute for fossil raw material. Increased forest production must go hand in hand with environmental and social aspects, which raises the question how production can be maximized in a sustainable way. There are several procedures to choose from to increase Swedish forest production, of which persistent long perspective silviculture is the traditional …

Mapping low productive wetlands and their adjacent wet forests with conservation values with remote sensing

A constant challenge for forestry is to identify areas with high conservation values, which require consideration during harvesting. Prior to each forestry measure, it is in Sweden the user’s responsibility to locate areas that need environmental consideration, so that the harvesting is carried out according to praxis, so-called freedom with responsibility. The decisions are often placed on one or a few people, although the trade-offs can be difficult if a …

Many tools, common goals: modern digital tools developed in EFFORTE can do a lot in the forest

As we know, forest operations can be made more environmentally friendly with different digital tools. The EFFORTE project has developed a bunch of these – see below the summary different types of tools we have developed and how can they help in operations. More detailed descriptions can be found from our recently published deliverables D4.5 Validation of developed tools for operational planning and D4.6 Validation of cost-effective and productive silviculture. …

Intriguing development with high expectations – precision silviculture is a potential future for Metsä Group

Metsä Group is one of the industrial partners of the EFFORTE project and an active participant in the development of precision silviculture. Its activities have been part of the thesis work conducted by Esko Häyrynen, a graduate student and operational supervisor. In his work, Esko focuses on the big data-based regeneration chain and the choices made in it. The purpose is to build a tool to support decision-making processes in …

Results of wheeling tests deliver new scientific evidence: brief look to results from France

When planning and undertaking logging operations in the plains, French forest companies are often confronted with multiple challenges related to soil bearing capacity and respective sensitiveness towards compaction and rutting. Soil-risk mitigation requires strong engagement from both forest managers and logging operators, from early and macro planning to the final site evaluation after haulage. The need for knowledge-based and open dialog is present every step of the way, in addition …