Smart Forestry
Smart Forestry is based on mapping, optimising, monitoring and continuous learning of the life cycle and functions in the supply chain in forest areas.
As experts for forestry simulation and optimisation, we help new and existing forest investors, forest owners and managers, forest management organisations, forest industries, forest funds, regional and national governmental agencies, international organisations, schools and universities, wood procurement departments, and operation planners and managers to reach the objectives set for their the forest assets - in a sustainable way.
Based on what our clients wish to achieve, we explore opportunities to optimise forest use based on various variables, such as economic performance, carbon sequestration or biodiversity.
- Software solutions for both tactical and strategic planning, fleet monitoring
- Scalable asset inventory solutions delivered through data from various sources - from precise drone inventory to large-scale satellite mapping - processed with AI and combined with ground reference data
- Forest asset modelling, simulation and optimisation
- Supply chain visibility, monitoring and continuous optimisation in a mixed machinery environment
- Integrating different organisational objectives and values to forest planning
- Operational excellence KPI and forecasts on visualised dashboards for decision making
- Forest carbon balance and forecast
- Global pulp, paper and raw-material database portals
- Forest management information systems to support communication between strategic stakeholders (including forest owners) and to empower managers with robust tools to manage and process forest data
Precision Forestry
Digital technologies are revolutionizing forestry and wood processing industries around the globe. The returns on investment for Precision Forestry technologies are high, comparable to the shift from animal-powered or manual harvesting to mechanized processing. Corresponding gains can be found from digital forest inventory, advanced simulation and optimisation platforms, and improved wood supply chain management.
What if you could get more with less?
- From generic management models to Precision Forestry
- Benefits for forest owners, timber buyers, nature and climate
In the forestry sector many operators still rely on frameworks built on manual and analog processes. This leads to inaccurate data and models, simplified plans with generic management prescriptions, and inefficiencies in the supply chains.
Even the digital forerunners are facing challenges both in improving data quality and in making use of data incoming from various sources along the supply chain. The need to balance between diverse objectives for commercial performance and sustainability goals is also posing new types of challenges for the systems in place.
Precision Forestry approach builds on accurate resource data and learning models, resulting in site-specific management, and enabling optimisation with varying objectives at different levels.
With current inventory technologies, data can be obtained at tree-level with reasonable costs, which enables modelling at the same resolution. Tree-level simulation and optimisation results in accurate forecasts at timber assortment level, introducing various benefits for forest managers, such as:
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Increased productivity and higher wood yields
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Increased return on investment
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Decreased uncertainty in asset transactions/valuations
And timber buyers:
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Value-based timber pricing
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Lower delivered costs for wood
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Shorter raw material lead times
Significant beneficiaries are also nature and climate through:
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Improved resource efficiency (producing more from less and relieving pressure on natural forests)
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Improved carbon balance of forestry (maximal carbon sequestration through yield maximisation and decreased emissions through optimised operations)
In order to optimise a wood supply chain, one needs to have real-time visibility of the harvesting and transport operations.
Natural Climate Solutions
- Accurate Quantification of Climate Impacts of Forests and Forestry
- About Forests and Climate
- The Real Climate Impact
Our Natural Climate Solutions solve forest climate challenges by integrating climate impacts Into the core solutions of AFRY, building on more than 10 years of experience in knitting together modern IT technologies and forestry.
Forests as ecosystems play a critical role in regulating the climatic conditions on our planet. In the context of climate change and global warming, forests sequestrate and store carbon in the biomass, therefore reducing the carbon concentration in the atmosphere. This biomass can still provide other benefits in parallel, such as improving and protecting biodiversity values and other ecosystem services, while providing a sustainable source of renewable raw material for many products and commodities. Not only is carbon locked away in these products, but new forests can continue to sequester more carbon from the atmosphere.
However, the resulting climate impact of forests (and their management) is highly complex. Forests do not grow equally in space and time. Different tree species and species combinations generate diverse stand dynamics. Forest growth can also be impacted by management activities, or it can change drastically due to natural disturbances.
Over time, significant quantities of carbon can also be stored in the soil through various stages of decomposition. And these direct forest impacts are just the tip of the iceberg. Downstream carbon impacts are dependent on what products are manufactured, how these are produced, what the end-use is, and what the alternative products (and their alternative climate impacts) are.
There’s also a loop back to forests – while the products are being produced and used, their real climate impact over time is very much connected to various considerations such as the decision to regenerate the harvested areas, the species, the objectives, and the capability of these new forests to sequester carbon.
Solving this puzzle for each unique forest and forestry case can be a cumbersome task, but it is imperative if we want to capture the real value of forests and make truly impactful decisions and actions. With AFRY’s Natural Climate Solutions, you can start making these steps today.
Forest Valuation
Our Forest Valuation Services provide profound insights on the forest value components and can even include insights on the non-timber values, such as the value of the forest’s carbon. The services harness AFRY’s vast forest modelling experience of over 10 years in knitting together modern IT technologies and forestry.
At the end of the day, all forest owners are interested in the value of their forests. Forest owners may place different values on their forest or a forest they wish to own. Depending on the stakeholder, the value of a forest is likely to consist of a combination of multiple values such as economic, environmental or other completely different and unique values.
At their best, forest valuations offer in-depth understanding of the value composition of forests, help forest owners to enhance the value further, guide decision making, and provide insights regarding the non-timber values of the asset.
Because of the ability of forests to function as a carbon sink and a provider of ecosystem services, capturing the true value of forests has become more critical than ever. It is inevitable that climate change, forest carbon sequestration and biodiversity will play an increasingly large role in determining the true value of forests.
