Water sensitive forest management

Healthy forest soils, with their dense root systems and porous organic top layers, play an important role in water infiltration and retention. To maintain these hydrological functions, forest managers should strive to maintain permanent vegetation cover, reduce soil compaction and increase surface roughness, which facilitates water absorption. As highlighted in A11 Controlled Traffic Farming from agriculture, minimising soil disturbance by restricting machinery to designated traffic lanes can significantly reduce soil compaction and promote structural integrity. Adopting similar controlled traffic approaches in forestry could improve soil health and water regulation.

Water sensitive driving in forestry focuses on reducing the negative impacts of off-road driving on wet landscapes such as bogs and peatlands. Avoiding these sensitive areas prevents soil compaction and rutting, which can channel runoff and increase erosion. Techniques such as using slash or logging mats, driving on frozen ground in colder regions, and reducing tyre pressure on unpaved roads are crucial. These measures aim to protect soil structure and ensure the continued functionality of forest soils as sponges for water infiltration and retention.

Integrating sustainable soil management practices into forestry, can minimise soil disturbance and maintain hydrological balance. From scarification to ploughing, the intensity of these techniques must be carefully managed to avoid compaction and erosion, especially on fragile soils.

Aerial Skidding is timber extraction where felled logs are lifted and carried by a suspended cable (a skyline/cable-mast) rather than dragged along the ground by machines. By keeping heavy machinery off wet soils, it causes far less compaction, minimizes the disturbance of peat and groundcover which preserve infiltration ans storage.