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Forest management as decision-making. Operations Research techniques for forest management. Information requirements for forest management planning. Stand level analysis. Forest estate level analysis. Integration of the forest estate with harvesting and marketing decisions. Human factors: role and style of leadership, communication, motivation, teamwork and problem solving.
Forestry managers (and owners) are required to make management and investment decisions regularly. They have to consider such questions as:• What volume of wood should be harvested each year?• Which stands should be harvested to meet this volume?• How should trees be cross-cut into logs?• How should logs of different size and quality be allocated to different markets?• Should land be replanted after harvesting?• Which silvicultural regimes should be implemented?• Should new land be bought for afforestation?• Should additional forests be bought and at what value?Each question has more than one possible solution, each with different consequences. Managers must identify these future consequences and the trade-offs between them. They must also consider commitments (to supply volumes of wood to processing plants) and limitations on resources (such as money, manpower and machinery), since they reduce the number of practical solutions. Only after integrating all this information can managers choose the solution that best meets the objectives of their organisation.The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of (and the ability to apply) the concepts, data requirements, techniques, and systems used to support forest management decision-making. The course follows the definition that forest management is “the study and application of analytical techniques to aid in choosing those management alternatives that contribute most to organisational objectives” (Leuschner, 1984).
Students who successfully pass this course will:Understand and be able to apply basic operations research techniques that are applicable to forest management.Understand data requirements for forest management planning and sources of this data.Understand concepts of forest management planning at both the stand and estate level for strategic, tactical and operational planning.Be able to use, and be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of, forest management decision support systems.Be able to integrate data, techniques, concepts and systems in order to analyse forest management issues.Be able to effectively communicate methods, results and conclusions of these analyses.
ENFO316, FORE316-prior to 2011, FORE319, FORE320, ENFO491-prior to 2011.
Bruce Manley
There is no single prescribed text for this course. You will be provided with relevant readings and references during lectures.
An important component of the course is applying concepts and techniques in the analysis of forest management planning problems. Consequently a pass in this paper requires a satisfactory performance in the computer laboratories. A satisfactory performance means attendance at all laboratories and having a lab report given a pass before leaving the lab.
Domestic fee $1,971.00
International fee $9,875.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see School of Forestry .