2019

LVM Cultivates Pine Forests

Forestry is a type of business where profits are derived from sustainable management of forest land. This means that forests and forest land are managed and used to preserve biological diversity, productivity, regeneration and vitality, while respecting ecological, economic and social needs at local, national and global levels, both now and in the future.

Pine forest restoration

After a seamless renewal felling, seedlings from seeds obtained from pine seed plantations, are grown in JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) nurseries. This ensures good quality of the young tree trunks, including early branching of side branches. For regeneration of pine forest stands, LVM mainly uses container seedlings, which ensure successful growth of the young trees in the first years. Soon after planting, agro-technical tending is carried out; as the trees grow, competition between them increases, so thinning of young trees is planned and carried out.

In areas with a large number of family Cervidae animals such as roe deer, deer, elks, LVM takes a number of measures to protect young trees: seedlings are treated with environmentally friendly plant protection products - repellents that discourage forest animals with an unpleasant smell or taste such as sand-glue mixture “Cervacol Extra”. This preparation is usually used to protect the top of a tree. If the central shoot is damaged, the planted tree may be destroyed or the tree trunk grows twisted, and often ends up making several tree tops.

“This year, we are starting to use a combined method to protect trees against even-toed ungulate damage that is based on the protection product “Triko”, which contains sheep fat. We handle the top shoot of a tree with this preparation; for the fastest growing trees - also their trunks, thus ensuring timely protection of the target trees,” says Lauris Ķemlers, LVM Ziemeļkurzeme Region Forestry Manager.

High-quality forest stands need special attention

In order to grow a good quality and healthy forest, it is not enough to have good planting material and agro-technical tending; forest care works must continue almost throughout the growth of a forest stand, as required by good forestry practice, in compliance with the legislation and other regulatory environmental requirements.

Tending of young forests is done with the aim of ensuring the most even distribution of trees in a stand, thus improving the growing conditions for the remaining trees. When a forest stand reaches a height of about 12 metres, thinning is carried out, during which the formation of a healthy stand is continued, also obtaining the first intermediate harvest of wood.

“Choosing high-quality planting material and targeted cultivation of pine stands with timely and regular thinning provide favourable conditions for the growth of the remaining trees and growth of stock, reducing the time of forest land circulation. By planting 3 000 new pine trees in a specific forest stand and performing targeted stand tending, the number of trees in the last tending of young stands is reduced to around 1 700 trees per hectare, which provides a good and strong crown. Through continuous periodical thinning, the optimum number of future trees does not exceed 1000 trees. At the same time, undergrowth groups are maintained, which serve as a hiding place for wild animals, providing them with an additional feed base. As a tree reaches the dimensions of a mature stand, about 500 trees are able to grow in an area of a hectare.

Targeted growth of forests means that trees grow faster, thus ensuring greater carbon capture and decreasing the growth time of a forest stand can allow more efficient use of forest land and increase revenue from a  unit of land,” says Andris Verners, LVM Forest Management Planning Manager.

High impact of animal density

Being aware of various external conditions and risks that affect successful forestry practices, along with tending work, LVM constantly seeks for solutions to mitigate and prevent the impact of potential threats and nuisances.

“One of these risks is that the deer population is too large for targeted cultivation of a pine forest. Forest animals chew off young tree tops and the side branches as well as trunk bark. In order to mitigate the risks that might encumber meeting of the forest management goals and to protect the growing trees from the damage of forest animals, LVM uses repellents and protective spirals. When tending young trees, foresters make responsible decisions: they must choose trees that are still less than 2 metres tall and are protected from damage by applying protective spirals. Part of the originally protected trees may fall behind in their growing speed; in such case, the decision on the choice of future trees should be changed. Of course, these skills and knowledge are formed over a longer period of time. The lessons learned allow us to improve the quality requirements and our knowledge of the most effective use of protective equipment,” says Andris Verners.

The use of protective spirals is stopped when crust bark is formed on the pine trunk. Forest animals do not like it, so the future high-quality tree is protected from danger.