Activity of the Forest Keepers in the Province of Trento

FORESTS IN TRENTINO

hectars Total surface of Trentino: hectars 56% Surface covered by forests

growing stock cubic meters annual prescribed yield cubic meters hectares of productive forests (80% of the forest) hectares of planned productive forests (78% of the productive forest)

135 logging firms people employed Annual processing of 380,000 net cubic meters Annual Productivity between 1400 and 2000 cubic meters

Forest administration in the Province of Trento 10 Forest districts 37 Forest stations 171 Forest keeping zones The forest keeper ensures the service in the circumscription to which it belongs and is directly responsible for the service in the keeping zone entrusted to him. Maintains the necessary connection relationships and cooperation with the representatives of the public forest owners and the forest authority. 1 Director and 1 technical officer 1 Forest inspector and 2-4 agents 1 Forest Keeper

management improvement enhancement the Public Forest property also with the goal of the conservation and balance of the ecological systems. Aim of the Forest Keeping service According to the forest act n. 11/2007

The forest keepers can be employed in the development of technical assistance for: Public forest owners Enterprises involved in the management of the forest property Enterprises involved in the Forest harvesting Support of rural development plan Private forest owners

Forest keepers Techinical functions Vigilance functions On the forest patrimony of public corporate administrations On the respect of the laws in subject of environment and forests Management of the “civic uses” in forest (firewood) To follow the operations connected with the forest utilizations in the public forests and to guard that the same are used in conformity of the technical and contractual prescriptions.

Usi civici Civic uses

the Civic Use is the right of every inhabitant of a municipality or community, to enjoy the fruits of a collective ownership good (typically woods and pastures) to satisfy the basic needs of life. When the good of the collective ownership is the forest, the civic use right are: Fire wood Building wood for the own home

households of Trentino that use firewood to integrate the heating Annual quantities of firewood taken from public forests Average quantity of firewood that each asker will receive annually 63% 29% 3,5 tons 86,000 tons

Portions of civic use firewood distributed each year in the province of Trento by the forest keepers About

Average annual number of portions of firewood distributed by any forest keeper

Silvicultural importance of civic uses The civic use allow to perform actions such as thinning that are without economic convenience for the public owners. With passing of the time, however, the more comfortable and accessible areas are less and less. On the other areas the utilizations are carried out by specialized firms, then the material obtained is distributed as firewood to askers, that pay only the cost of intervention.

Commercial forest utilization

cutted and stacked standing trees presumed assortments The owner takes care of the cut processing and logging and selling the timber in stacks Different price depending on assortment The owner sells the plants still standing to a firm that takes care of the cutting processing and logging Single price. No assortment The owner sells the timber before cutting estimating the quantities of each assortment and agreeing with the buyer on the required assortments and the delivery period. Different price depending on assortment Kind of timber sales

Percentage of forest keeping zones where prevails the sale of timber cutted and stacked

Role of the forest keepers in the commercial forest utilizations Individuation of the annual cutting area Estimation of the forest utilization cost Estimation of the potential timber assortments To trace the lines for the cable cranes Monitor and control the work of cutting, processing and logging Classify the logs in different assortments Measure the timber Follow the sale phases

The forest keepers took part in the setting phase of the project to identify suitable areas for terrestrial and aerial surveys They have provided guidance for the job of marking and one of the labels used was developed by following their suggestions Take part to the questionnaire requirements users WP1 Forest Keepers and the collaboration with the SLOPE Project

Individuation of the annual cutting area Estimation of the forest utilization cost To trace the line for the cable cranes Forest keeper needs and requirements and the slope project Implementation of models based on DTM, DSM, CHM data and and GIS information about forest road network to obtain a segmentation of the forest in different areas with different costs of utilization

Estimation of the potential timber assortments Forest keeper needs and requirements and the slope project Implementation, through sample areas, of a predictive model for the estimation of the possible assortments obtainable from a particular forest area based on parameters easily detectable such as: Medium height Diameters Branchiness index Density Slope Exposure Evaluate the possibility of using the spectral signatures of the canopy to predict the presence of rotten wood.

Critical issues Forest Road network and storage yards are not always optimal Problem of processing waste (branches and treetops) created by processors. Accuracy of length measurements with processor Processor is not always usable in all contexts Specific technical knowledge and specifications (GPS, GIS) are not known to all the forest keepers

Optimal situation, wide space, roads suitable for trucks

situation more difficult, less space, not very wide road

Piles of branchwood created by processors could be a problem when the area can not be reached by a wood chipper and truks

TRAINING Specific technical knowledges and specifications (GPS, GIS) are not known to all the forest keepers The SLOPE project can be an opportunity to improve these knowledges

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