Knowledge and decision support for alternative forest management strategies, E-Tools

Clear-cut forest management, which has dominated since the 1950s, is increasingly criticized, and there is a demand for knowledge about continuous cover forestry methods. Despite the large interest in continuous cover forestry, these approaches are somewhat niche in Swedish forestry, being used on less than five percent of the forest area managed for timber production.

There is a lack of understanding of what a widespread transition to continuous cover forestry would mean for ecosystem services and biodiversity, both at the national level and for individual forest properties. Current models for describing the future growth of forests are not adapted for continuous cover forestry, which means that the results of Heureka runs for continuous cover forestry methods are subject to significant uncertainty, especially for time horizons longer than 30-50 years.

This implies an urgent need for models and tools that can provide new, scientifically based knowledge as a basis for decisions in forest planning. The overarching goal of E-Tools is therefore to develop new knowledge and planning tools that enable an informed transition towards a broader implementation of continuous cover forestry in Sweden.

WP1

The aim of WP1 is to explore the demands, priorities and challenges of forest owners and forest managers regarding the use of forest decision support tools for continuous cover forestry.

Contact: Karin Öhman

WP2

The aim of WP2 is to substantially improve the growth models used in forest decision support systems such as Heureka to describe the long-term consequences of continuous cover forestry.

Contact: Alex Appiah Mensah

WP3

The aim of WP3 is to develop a user-friendly web-based application that allows all forest owners in Sweden and other interested parties to easily access decision support regarding the effects and benefits of adapted forestry methods.

Contact: Jeannette Eggers

WP4

The aim of WP4 is to evaluate the long-term effects, benefits and challenges at the property and national level of a widespread implementation of alternative management strategies (different variants of clear-cutting and mixed forest and extended rotation periods) for different values associated with forests, e.g. biodiversity, recreation, reindeer husbandry and economic profitability based on timber production, logistic solutions and competitive harvesting methods.

Contact: Camilla Widmark

Official project title: E-Tools: Evidence-based knowledge and decision support for alternative forest management strategies

Funding: Formas