Archive for: October 2006

VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland has begun a gasification plant trial to produce biofuel from among other things forest residues. The plant can use any carbonous raw-materials, incuding biomass from agricuture, peat and of course forestry by product. The …

The PFSQ Small Growers Guide to Nursery Establishment has been written to give advice on the establishment of an inexpensive and low maintenance small-scale nursery.

It is aimed at the small-scale farm forester who wishes to progressively establish a commercial hardwood plantation (eg: 500 to 4000 trees at a time). The photographs displayed in this fact sheet show one design option, however, the basic principles can be applied to a number of nursery layouts.

So you’re getting down to planning you harvest. You have assessned the stand and now you need to find and contract and harvest contractor and buyer. How will you manage the agreements between yourself and the other parties? PFSQ Model contract s provide a guide for how parties involved in a native forst operation might draw up an agreeement.

PFSQ Model contract 3 provides for the situation where a landowner or independent third party sells standing timber to a purchaser on a royalty/stumpage basis and the purchaser also harvests the native forest.

The harvest of a native forest is one of the most significant events within a timber stand’s management cycle. Harvesting, after the many years of managing the forest using fire, thinning and other forest management activities is the culmination of the forest management cycle but unfortunately is frequently not treated as such.
Forest Harvesting is often seen as an opportunity to cash in on accumulated forest growth when farm cash flow needs to be boosted, rather then the ultimate forest management tool. This form of harvest usually results in the removal of most of the trees that can make a product, regardless of a trees potential to grow on and produce a higher value return, or the considerations for the future productivity of the forest.

The fundamental rule of productive native forest management is to always leave forest areas in a condition that allows them to regenerate and maintain, or in some cases, improve their productivity after harvesting, thinning or even burning.
The first stage of sustainable native forest management is achieved by optimising individual tree growing space – providing trees with enough space to grow. Tree stocking levels i.e. trees/stems per hectare, is dependent upon tree species (type), their diameter (size) and the quality of the site (soil type and depth, rainfall, etc). As a general rule, as trees get larger, more space is required for them to increase in diameter, plus maintain tree health and growth vigour.