Life on our planet wouldn’t be possible without forests, as trees absorb carbon dioxide and give people and animals the oxygen they need in return. Forests also provide humanity with essentials such as fuel, medicines, and food. As long as there are people and animals on Earth, forests are essential and need to be preserved. That’s why sustainable management practices, such as selective cutting are of the utmost importance.
Selective Logging for Forest Health
Various approaches to timber harvesting help preserve forest health and wildlife habitat. Selective logging is a sustainable forestry practice that involves the removal of certain trees of the same species on the site instead of clear-cutting the whole area, after which the landscape is bare.
In selective logging, foresters or owners designate in advance which trees will be cut down and which will not be cut down, based on various indicators. For example, they can cut down trees based on size and not cut down young ones. Only diseased trees can be selected for cutting, while healthy ones are left. Another option for selective logging is to remove trees from dense areas. Or they may choose to target only trees with high economic value and leave the rest.
To specify which trees will be cut down, foresters can use different methods to get the maximum advantages of selective cutting. Thanks to modern technology, foresters can even do this remotely using forest monitor platforms, which allows them to assess the health of trees and planting density to determine the choice of trees for felling.
What are the Advantages of Selective Logging
Environmental impact – Selective logging reduces the ecological footprint of logging activities. By retaining a significant portion of the forest canopy and structure, it helps maintain habitat for wildlife, protect soil from erosion, and preserve water quality.
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Biodiversity – By only removing certain trees, selective logging helps to maintain the diversity of plant and animal species in the forest. This contrasts with clear-cutting, which can lead to significant loss of biodiversity.
Sustainability – This practice supports sustainable forest management by ensuring that the forest can regenerate and continue to provide ecological and economic benefits over the long term. Selective logging allows younger trees to grow and mature, ensuring a continuous supply of timber without depleting the forest.
Economic benefits – Selective logging can be economically advantageous as it targets high-value trees, maximizing the economic return from logging activities while minimizing the cost of reforestation and environmental restoration.
Forest health – By removing diseased, damaged, or otherwise less healthy trees, selective logging can improve the overall health and resilience of the forest, allowing more space and resources for healthy trees to thrive.
Tips for More Sustainable Selective Logging
Foresters can use methods that are accurate and safe for the vegetation in the forest. An important task is to choose a path for the skidder so as not to catch young or smaller trees. Thus, it’s possible to save the seedlings and repeat this path regularly to avoid creating damage. It’s necessary to plan the route of the skidder before you start logging.
Tree felling path should also be considered in advance so that nearby small trees are not damaged when the tree is felled. In this way, foresters will ensure the safety of seedlings in advance and prevent blows from spring poles for themselves.
By planning the path of the skidder to land and move, cutters will make their work more accessible, as logs that can be pulled out without turning also minimize the impact on the environment and seedlings. Planning is the key to effective selective cutting.
Sustainable Forest Management Technology
Today, the forest industry has achieved many technological breakthroughs that allow better care for forests and ensure their safety. Satellite imagery and analytics enable foresters to become aware of potential problems and address issues promptly before damage occurs.
Satellite technology provides regular monitoring of soil and vegetation health, so that pest attacks or the spread of diseases can be quickly detected. Satellite monitoring and ground-based sensors combine to identify potential fires and minimize damage. However, all this works much more effectively in combination with sustainable practices.
How the Same Technology Foresters Use Can Benefit the Green Building Industry
The green building industry benefits from the same technologies that are making the forest industry more sustainable. The main advantage of satellite imagery, for example, is the possibility of monitoring changes over time and, because of the high image quality, seeing even relatively small objects (just a couple of metres large). There are other advantages:
Pre-planning – With very high-resolution images it is possible to explore possible construction sites before carrying out field inspections. In addition, in combination with AI, it is possible to determine other economic and social patterns, such as the wealth of the neighbourhood, the number of stores, gyms, parks, etc. in the area or nearby transportation infrastructure.
Monitoring of green spaces – Concrete masses are a thing of the past; more and more importance is being given to the existence of green spaces in cities. Thanks to the use of the NDVI index, it is possible to quantify these areas and ensure compliance in terms of quantity and conservation.
Land valuation – Thanks to current and historical images, it is possible not only to have an accurate picture of the size of the land, but also to estimate what its value was in the past, its value now and what its value will be in the future.
Sustainable forestry is an investment that humanity can make for the future. Sustainable use of forests ensures that future generations can obtain food, medicine, wood, and fuel and will not be left without stable jobs in this industry.
Clear-cutting is no longer practical or relevant. Instead, more sustainable methods help ensure sustainable harvests and naturally replenish cut trees. Instead of cutting down entire acres of healthy trees and damaging biodiversity, cutters can apply careful planning and reap the benefits of selective cutting.
Feature image: Nejc Košir; Image 1: HoliHo
