Planning in Forestry
Metsähallitus’ Geographical Information System – perhaps the most extensive in the world – forms the basis of planning at Metsähallitus. The system contains electronically saved data about soil types and forest stands and the management requirements for forest stands, as well as a tremendous amount of information on valuable habitats and landscapes. The amount of information in the system is constantly increasing, which makes even more detailed and in-depth planning possible.
A planner working in the field uses a hand-held computer which contains data on the planning area downloaded from the geographical information system. Up-to-date information about sites, as well as information about habitats, biotopes and forest management can be read on the screen right in the forest.
Site data is collected through observation, surveying and assessments in the field. The forest planner updates and enters into the site records any information on an area’s compartments, takes note of fellings, forest management operations and their timing, and marks possible changes on a printed map. While visiting the site, the planner demarcates land and regeneration felling areas, marks retention tree groups and verifies the land use and habitat information of compartments.
A detailed action plan
Once the site data has been collected, the forest planner’s work continues in the office. Compartment data updates and proposals for measures are electronically transferred from the hand-held device to the geographical information system. The planner makes compartment demarcation changes from his or her own computer terminal and enters them into the system and calculates the volume of stands harvested.
A detailed action plan is created when the planner makes a site map, prints out the landscape ecological map of the area and marks the special areas and felling boundaries on the plan. The planner also prints up the necessary reports concerning the felling sites.
When the planned work has been carried out on site, the forest’s status is updated in the geographical information system. The geographical information is always kept up-to-date and gives an accurate picture of the forest to facilitate planning.