PREHAS

A new forest stand assessment tool (PREHAS) has been developed by the Finnish Forest Research Institute in conjunction with Forest Research Scotland. This software has been developed to provide forest managers with a breakdown of harvestable timber with respect to volume and quality. Forecasts are generated using forest data collected from harvester processing machines.

Timber quality survey

Forest Research has completed a survey of timber quality on 87 Scots pine stands in the northern periphery area of Scotland - see a presentation on the work.

Preliminary results suggest:

• Average stem straightness as a forest stand level improves with age, but that to date none of the other stand management variables measured can be easily used to predict straightness.
• Stand mean height of the lowest dead branch can be predicted from stand age and mean diameter
• Stress wave velocity in standing trees (which is directly related to mechanical properties) can be predicted from stand age and site elevation.

Pricing guidance

The Finnish Forest Research Institute has published the results of a study looking at roundwood timber pricing . The study describes pricing systems currently used in partner countries and then considers systems that would better reflect variations in timber quality and improve incentives for growing high quality material.