Database

Innovative reforestation prefer clear felling

Habitat	Function	Type of work
Forest	High-quality timber	Clear-cutting

Forests need to be renewed and managed in ways that ensure their long-term sustainability and productivity, as well as rapid carbon sequestration and high quality timber.

Description of the action

For regeneration, give preference to clear-cutting as it provides sufficient light and nutrients for new growth. Turf felling is only suitable for palm pine forests under Estonian conditions. In the case of turf felling, give preference to late felling and add 30-40% to the regeneration. In the case of coppicing, the column is too narrow and the coppice does not regenerate successfully about 10m from the forest edge, so the column is poorly regenerating for about 20m. In the case of clear cutting, the regeneration area is also insufficient. Also, peat cutting is more disturbing (the same area has to be felled several times a year) and has a higher overall environmental footprint (e.g. fuel consumption) and is economically inefficient.

Why?

Turf cuttings are not climatically suitable for Estonia. In silviculture, it can be used in palm thickets of bonuses II and III, where there is no strong herbage and spruce understorey to prevent the growth of young pine trees. The use of turf is particularly dangerous in wet and humid habitat types and in spruce stands, where it causes wind damage. Turf felling also reduces the regeneration potential of the new forest canopy and thus its carbon sequestration capacity.

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