Management
It is envisaged that once the project is fully developed, the system will be largely self regulating. Management will consist mainly of pruning, mulching, thinning coppiced stems and weed control in addition to harvesting.
Fuel load is managed by strategic crash grazing and mowing of grassed areas and the mulching of slash within the woodlots.
As the limiting economic factor is production area, the management regime seeks to maximise production by progressive thinning rather than clear felling. The high labour requirement for such selective harvesting is balanced by the much higher biomass production that is the consequence of avoiding disruption to optimum site occupancy.
It is intended that by leaving a percentage of each firewood rotation to grow to sawlog and by encouraging some endemic understorey to co-exist within the woodlots, it will be possible to approximate a forest of mixed age thus maximising both commercial returns and ecological values.
As a consequence of the implementation of this project the runoff from this property should revert to volumes similar to those prior to the clearance of the land; i.e. relatively little and very well filtered. The ongoing management of the productive system will require no irrigation and very little, if any, chemical or nutrient inputs and consequently, issues of concern to downstream stakeholders should not arise.
Fuel load is managed by strategic crash grazing and mowing of grassed areas and the mulching of slash within the woodlots.
As the limiting economic factor is production area, the management regime seeks to maximise production by progressive thinning rather than clear felling. The high labour requirement for such selective harvesting is balanced by the much higher biomass production that is the consequence of avoiding disruption to optimum site occupancy.
It is intended that by leaving a percentage of each firewood rotation to grow to sawlog and by encouraging some endemic understorey to co-exist within the woodlots, it will be possible to approximate a forest of mixed age thus maximising both commercial returns and ecological values.
As a consequence of the implementation of this project the runoff from this property should revert to volumes similar to those prior to the clearance of the land; i.e. relatively little and very well filtered. The ongoing management of the productive system will require no irrigation and very little, if any, chemical or nutrient inputs and consequently, issues of concern to downstream stakeholders should not arise.