Multi-objectively targeted implementation of continuous cover forest management

According to Luke's recent (2023) policy brief, Finland is not achieving its current climate goals without reducing emissions, strengthening forest carbon sinks and comprehensive guidance on forest management and wood use. The rapid multi-objectives of forest use and the loosening of forest management recommendations have rapidly increased new forest management harvesting methods. Choosing the right harvesting method and its high-quality success requires good stand-specific preliminary planning, the right technology, working method and skilled implementers.

In the diversification of silvicultural methods, continuous cover forest management is a principle of clear-cutting-free method wherein the strength is the flexibility to use different forest management principles according to the the goal. For continuous cover forestry, more accurate targeted stand specific information is needed for practical implementation and for forest owners to meet the diverse goals of forests. The knowledge of the practical implementation of continuous cover forest management is still limited, and the increase in harvesting volumes requires significant investment in research and development.

In a large part of the North Karelian forests continuous cover transform loggings are needed where the stand is changed towards uneven age structure of growing trees. In Eastern Finland, such forests are primarily drained peatland forests, as well as some well-seeded mineral soils and unmanaged young forests which the methods developed in this project are able to find more accurately to facilitate the operations of companies that carry out practical implementation and to support the decision-making of the forest owners.

This project refines previous research and development knowledge and produces practical digital methods to serve forest service companies and forest owners for the targeting continuous forest management stands, the detailed delimitation of the logging area and the implementation of harvester work. The development work will focus on 1) drained mature peatland forests, which cover a significant part of the North Karelian forests, 2) mature forests of mineral soils with sufficient natural seedling that can be grown and 3) young unmanaged forests which have developed suitable for continuous cover forestry.

This project makes more practical and further refines the remote-sensing and drone-mapping pre-planning methods of continuous cover forestry harvesting tested and developed in the KESTO-project 2022-2023, as well as the harvester work methods in different stand structures when transforming into continuous cover forests.