Infodoc : Sciences, Techniques et Culture

Since the 1950s, Iceland has been planting large numbers of trees to increase its forested area. The commercial forests are generally managed as regular monocultures of a small size. The first plantations are now ready to be harvested, so it is interesting to study the possibility of using continuous cover forestry as an alternative to short rotation forestry, widely used in boreal forests.
This study is based on the results of several literature reviews as well as interviews with experts in boreal and temperate forest management in several European countries. This approached aimed to define continuous cover forestry, its advantages and disadvantages compared with short rotation forestry and its relevance in Iceland in the current co[...]

Since the 1950s, Iceland has been planting large numbers of trees to increase its forested area. The commercial forests are generally managed as regular monocultures of a small size. The first plantations are now ready to be harvested, so it is interesting to study the possibility of using continuous cover forestry as an alternative to short rotation forestry, widely used in boreal forests.
This study is based on the results of several literature reviews as well as interviews with experts in boreal and temperate forest management in several European countries. This approached aimed to define continuous cover forestry, its advantages and disadvantages compared with short rotation forestry and its relevance in Iceland in the current context. Three impacts were specifically studied: the economy, the impact of climate change and the biodiversity.
The results show that continuous cover forestry has an advantage concerning the last 2 impacts. However, more field knowledge is needed to decide on the economic aspect. Iceland's commercial forests currently present interesting characteristics for testing continuous cover forestry. This report provides advice on how to convert existing forests to this alternative management method.