Different felling methods

Different felling methods

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  A first thinning improves the quality of trees

  

  A first thinning improves the quality of trees

  Additional information: The first thinning is the first intermediate cutting that produces marketable roundwood. The goal is to remove poor-quality and unhealthy trees and improve the growing conditions of the remaining trees. Indeed, the most important goal of a first thinning is to improve the quality of the growing stock, ensuring that the trees grow and become sturdy more quickly.

  The first thinning is best carried out when the trees have reached a height of 12 to 16 metres, depending on the species and site. In southern Finland, this usually takes place 25 to 30 years after forest regeneration, and in northern Finland, 30 to 40 years after forest regeneration.

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  Another thinning encourages the remaining trees to become sturdier

  

  Another thinning encourages the remaining trees to become sturdier

  A subsequent thinning should be carried out 15 to 25 years after the first thinning, when the growing stock has reached an average diameter of at least 16 centimetres at a height of 1.3 metres. This thinning produces pulpwood and log wood. The goal of thinning is to remove part of the growing stock to improve the growing conditions of the remaining trees. Healthy, vigorous and high-quality trees are left to grow. The increased growth space accelerates the development from pulpwood to more valuable log wood.

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  Regeneration felling is a harvest

  

  Regeneration felling is a harvest

  Regeneration felling removes the old generation of trees. The goal can be to regenerate the forest by cultivation or natural regeneration. Regeneration felling is a forest owner’s harvest; it is the most financially profitable of all the felling methods, as it produces the largest amount of valuable log wood.

  Clear felling is a method used in regeneration felling in which the entire growing stock is removed from the area except for retention trees, naturally growing seedling groups, buffer zones and protective thickets, as well as protected nature sites. The area is then cultivated by planting seedlings or sowing seeds.

  Seed-tree and shelterwood fellings are methods used for natural forest regeneration. Their success depends on good seed years. Seed-tree felling is primarily used in the regeneration of arid and semi-arid pine heath forests. In turn, shelterwood cutting is used to regenerate spruce forests.

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  Continuous cover forestry

  

  Continuous cover forestry

  In continuous cover forestry, the forest is not regenerated and grown as a single generation of trees that are all the same age. Instead, the forest is home to trees of different ages and sizes. Harvesting is never carried out over the entire area to ensure that the forest always has some tree cover. Various felling methods such as selection cutting and group selection, or a combination of these, are used in continuous cover forestry. Hold-over methods are typical in pine forests, while strip felling is an option for peatlands.

  Natural regeneration is the most common approach in continuous cover forestry, but cultivation is sometimes combined with it.

  Continuous cover forestry is particularly suitable for peatlands. Read more here.