TIMBER ENVIRONMENT AND MEET DEMAND SÖDRA: PROTECT THE
Careful, quality forest management can protect the environment and help meet an ever-growing demand for timber from the building trade. Meet Glenn Faxhag-Raymond, Forest Consultant at Södra.
A
s a forest consultant for Södra, my role is to work with around 200 of its members to advise and help them to look after their forests – some of which have been in their families for generations. This includes accurately mapping owners’ forests, identifying potential problem areas, which areas should be thinned, which should be left for conservation purposes, and planning harvesting logistics (amongst other things). Everything he does helps to maintain healthy, thriving forests that produce high- quality timber.
The right trees in the right place
Much like the early development of your children, quality forest management begins at the nursery. At Södra, for example, the basis of our Falkenberg nursery is harnessed from some of the best quality trees in the world. The programme does not and has never used genetic modification in any way, but rather ensures that all desirable traits of selected spruce are transferred to seeds, and then to future trees. This helps produce higher quality trees and ultimately improves the overall quality of the end-product.
The next step is planting. Firstly, it’s my job
to speak with and educate forest-owners as to the importance of planting the right trees in the right place. We do this by looking at what trees are already there and what other wildlife is flourishing. Which mosses are growing; are there blueberries or nettles? Everything that’s going on above the ground gives us a good idea of what’s happening beneath the surface and helps us to decide which species should be planted. There also can’t just be a whole estate of spruce, for instance. There has to be other tree species mixed in – such as pine or broad-leaved trees – to attract different birds and insects and generally better enrich the biodiversity of the forest.
We then have to get the planting right. If, 22
for instance, you plant a tree and it leans, you’ll likely get a little crook which could ultimately impact the quality of the end- product. Then it’s a case of letting the tree grow and closely monitoring and managing it – especially for the first 10-15 years of its life.
Thinning: it’s nothing to worry about
People sometimes shirk at the thought of thinning areas of forest but it’s essential to the better management and continued development of healthy forests. There are two types of thinning: manual thinning, which occurs in the first 10-15 years of a tree’s life, and machine thinning, which occurs once the trees are 15-plus years’ old.
Thinning removes slower-growing or defective trees, thereby providing more space and sunlight for the remaining trees to flourish. If, for example, trees grow too close to one another they won’t receive as much sunlight which means they will lose some of their greenery. This can lead to branches dying and trees getting smaller and smaller which is not conducive to high-quality, strong timber. The improved supply of soil nutrients, water and light results in bigger, healthier trees and better-quality timber.
Protecting the forest We at Södra are fortunate to have inherited the vast amounts of healthy forests that we enjoy today. What we’re harvesting now is what our ancestors looked after and left behind, which is why we not only owe a debt of gratitude but have an obligation to make sure our forests continue to flourish for the next 100 years (and beyond!). All activity should be geared toward the continued health and upkeep of the forest, from protecting the forest floor from machinery by laying errant, loose branches and foliage, to mapping a safe route in and out of the forest so that machinery doesn’t get stuck or sink. Never, at any point in the timber-growing process should chemicals be used.
Of course, this includes the nurturing of saplings and continued upkeep of the forest, but it also includes what’s put into machinery. Any oil put into forest machinery should be classified to a certain standard and should have thorough documentation which clearly shows where it has come from. Incidentally, these are all factors that need to be covered in order to achieve PEFC and FSC certification, which is why we don’t just check our own work. External,
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2019
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