Forest Products Industry

Archaeologists from the University of Southampton have excavated and recorded a large timber platform hidden beneath what today appears to be a stone-built island, located in a Scottish loch. Source: Timberbiz They used a technique called stereophotogrammetry to record the human-made island above and below the waterline as a single continuous structure, providing a perspective that wouldn’t have been possible using land or underwater survey alone. The researchers, working with the University of Reading, examined the ‘crannog’ in Loch Bhorgastail on the Isle of Lewis to reveal a structure built more than 5,000 years ago. Their fieldwork uncovered a layered wood and brushwood construction under the stone capping of the island, along with hundreds of pieces of Neolithic pottery submerged in the surrounding water. “Crannogs are small artificial islands that are typically thousands of years old. Hundreds exist in the lochs of Scotland and many remain unexplored or undiscovered,” University of Southampton archaeologist Dr Stephanie Blankshein said. “While crannogs were long thought to have been built, used and re-used, mainly between the Iron Age and the post-medieval period, we now know that some were first constructed much earlier during the Neolithic between 3800 and 3300 BC.” Over several years of fieldwork visits, using traditional excavation techniques, coring, sophisticated surveying, and radiocarbon dating, the archaeologists have revealed the different stages of development of the Loch Bhorgastail crannog. It was first established over five-thousand years ago, making it older than well-known monuments such as Stonehenge. It started as a circular wooden platform, around 23 metres across, topped with brushwood. S ome two-thousand years on, in the Middle Bronze Age, another layer of brushwood and stone were added, before another phase of activity took place around one thousand years after that during the Iron Age. A stone causeway, now underwater, leads from the loch shore to the island. Over the years, archaeologists have discovered hundreds of pieces of Neolithic pottery, such as from different types of jars and bowls, scattered in the surrounding water. This suggests the site was first established by people of this period, before the Bronze Age. “While we still don’t know exactly why these islands were built, the resources and labour required to construct them suggests, not only complex communities capable of such feats, but also the great significance of these sites. Large quantities of pottery, often still containing food residue, and worked stone found on and around the islands, suggest their use for communal activities such as cooking or feasting.” Dr Blankshein said. During fieldwork in 2021, archaeologists designed and applied a new technique for using stereophotogrammetry in shallow water. The To help solve this, the researchers used two small waterproof cameras – with low-light performance and a wide-field of view. Locked at a set distance apart on a frame, this ‘stereo’ method provides precise overlapping of imagery, to help compensate for any missing or disrupted data. The cameras were manoeuvred through the water by a diver with positioning controlled to centimetre accuracy, matching that achieved by an aerial drone. “By combining stereophotogrammetry, drone technology and some innovative post-processing of the data, we have managed to set out an accessible approach that is portable and cost effective,” said Dr Blankshein, lead author on the paper.

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As the harvesting of small-diameter timber continues to increase worldwide – driven by growing demand for energy wood, plantation forestry, and higher productivity requirements – equipment efficiency is becoming increasingly critical. Source: Timberbiz In response to these evolving operational needs, Kesla is extending the availability of its Kesla twinAX shear-cutting solution, first introduced at FinnMetko 2024, to the 24RH III and 26RH III harvester heads. Kesla twinAX is a cost-effective wood-cutting solution, particularly for operations processing large volumes of small-diameter trees. This shear cutting module cis ompatible with Kesla 19RH III, 21RH III, 24RH III, and 26RH III harvester heads. Thanks to the modular frame design, contractors can replace the standard chainsaw module with the twinAX shear cutting module. The twinAX system delivers significant advantages in conditions that require frequent cutting of small diameter material, such as energy wood harvesting and eucalyptus plantation operations. Key benefits include: No downtime or costs caused by chain dulling or breakage No unproductive work related to chain changing, transport, or sharpening No guide bar or sprocket failures No lubrication costs, no oil handling, and no mess No oil released into the environment and no harmful skin contact with oil No chain tensioning or adjustment issues No disturbances caused by snow, ice, sawdust, or branches No risk of chain shot No concerns about contact with soil or stones, or the chain coming off the bar   The cutting capacity of the KESLA twinAX is up to 28 cm, depending on tree species and operating conditions. Kesla’s unique interchangeable module concept makes it possible to switch between shear-cutting and traditional chainsaw use, allowing the harvester head to be configured for both energy wood and roundwood harvesting. The twinAX module can also be retrofitted to existing compatible KESLA harvester heads. “As the leading independent manufacturer of harvester heads, we continuously strive to develop cost efficient and functional solutions,” said Mika Tahvanainen, Director of Product Management at Kesla. “From the perspective of both machine manufacturers and contractors, it makes sense to rely on proven modular base solutions that can be configured for various applications, rather than developing a separate special head for every use case. “The Kesla 19RH III twinAX was introduced at FinnMetko 2024, and the results from both plantation harvesting and energy wood operations have been extremely positive. Based on this feedback, we are now expanding the twinAX product family to include the larger 24/26RH III models.”

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Restricting logging in the EU would cost a fortune, but the resulting benefit to the climate would be virtually non-existent, Professor Maarit Kallio tells Audiomedia. Source: Tero Karjalainen Forest Fi Implementing the EU’s carbon sink targets and biodiversity strategy for land use and forestry would cause a massive outflow of logging from the EU to other countries, Audiomedia writes. “In practice, this would mean a massive transfer of income from EU countries to elsewhere, but almost no climate benefit compared to the costs,” says Maarit Kallio, professor of forest economics and policy at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), to Audiomedia. According to Kallio, the EU’s LULUCF (Regulation on Land Use, Land‑Use Change and Forestry) sector climate and biodiversity policies, if implemented, would have a massive impact on European forestry. “The targets are ambitious. However, implementing them is proving to be significantly more difficult than is often implied in political discourse. Nor have the global knock-on effects of the targets been assessed.” Forest News reported as early as December 2024 on the preliminary results of the research project. Even then, it was observed that reducing logging in the EU would increase logging elsewhere in the world and cost the EU dearly. “Achieving the LULUFC targets would multiply the risk of biodiversity loss elsewhere in the world,” Kallio told at the time on Forest News. As wood raw material production declines in the EU, processing, export revenues, investments and employment are expected to contract as well. The study forecasts a substantial transfer of income from the EU to non‑EU countries as production shifts elsewhere. According to the analysis, the marginal cost of achieving emission reductions in this scenario could rise to more than 700 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide. “By comparison, the price of a ton of carbon dioxide in the EU Emissions Trading System has been a fraction of this in recent years. If the same emission reductions can be achieved through other measures at a significantly lower cost, it raises questions about the cost-effectiveness of the policy,” Kallio notes in an interview with Audiomedia. The European Union’s LULUCF sets strict carbon sink targets for member states for the years 2026–2030. According to Kallio, in practice, this target means that forest carbon sinks must be increased rapidly. “According to a recent modelling study, achieving the LULUCF targets requires an immediate and sharp reduction in commercial timber harvesting volumes in the EU.” The magnitude of the reduction in logging volumes would be approximately 113–117 million cubic meters in 2030–2035 compared to market-driven trends. According to Kallio, this is not a matter of marginal fine-tuning, but a historic cut on the scale of forestry. “If the policy leads to logging and revenues shifting outside Europe without significant global climate benefits, it is justified to ask whether the direction is correct. The responsibility for achieving the targets and for any potential consequences lies with the member states.” According to the study’s modelling results, about two-thirds of the EU’s logging reductions would be offset by increased logging elsewhere in the world. It won’t help the climate, even if the forest carbon sink were to grow in the EU. ”A significant portion of the logging not carried out in Europe would take place in North America, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Chile, and other major forest regions. From a climate policy perspective, this is a key problem. If logging simply shifts geographically, global emissions will not decrease significantly.” If the use of wood decreases, it may increase the use of fossil or non-renewable materials. “The climate benefit of wood does not come solely from the carbon sequestered in forests, but also from the fact that wood replaces concrete, steel, and fossil fuels,” Kallio tells Audiomedia.

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