Planning

Forest survey and management planning is a branch of forest management that deals with the planning of forest management activities and the collection, administration and processing of information.

The inevitable prerequisite for the preparation of a forest management plan is on the one hand the society’s wish to consume forestry products for its own good and on the other hand the possibilities offered by the nature between which the forest management plan has to create a sustainable compromise.

Forest management plan is a code of practice that is prepared on the basis of the existence of growing stock, rules established by law, good forest management and public opinion. The plan will give an answer where, when, how and to which extent it is reasonable to operate in the forest so that there would be enough space both for human beings and other species both in the present time and in the future.

In the State Forest Management Centre the Forest Survey Management Department of the Forest Management Department established in 2004 is responsible for the performance of the forest management tasks. RMK forests are divided into 28 forest management work areas with an average managed forests area of 25 000 ha.

For decades the state forest management plans have been prepared for a 10-year cycle. In a slow living tempo this was an adequate solution. Due to a continuous movement of lands, amendments to legislation and new laws, as well as the developing forest industry and environmental protection it is no longer possible to operate according to the static management plan that has been approved for 10 years. Management plan is increasingly becoming a part of information system. Decisions made in the management plan can only rely on new information due to which the RMK forest database has to reflect the current status of forests. Forest surveyors and forest managers in course of their everyday work provide this information.

At the same time, irrespective of the frequency how often do we revalue the cutting volumes the future perspective has to keep seeing into the future after the decades; the silhouette of this rugged horizon that is constantly moving out of reach is still forest, the shape of which is changing but never disappearing.