In the forest, working ever more powerful machines are used, which are becoming increasingly digital. You should bring more efficiency and reduce the cost. Sustainable but ancient methods.
Nine o’clock in the morning on the outskirts of Cologne. Like every day of the week, the traffic rolls down the highways everyday. Happy appreciate those who turn only two-three times, and in the forest Botanical garden land. There are not many, leaving so early in the small forest. A couple of pedestrians with dogs, a few cyclists. On a Meadow ten degrees children get ready in the cool of the day in the forest kindergarten.
The noise of the cars has shrunk to noise a quiet background. Anyone who comes here is happy with the fresh Green of the trees, the chirping of the birds, in the fresh air. Less of the floor and the wrong is noted, as Elmar finds Stertenbrink. “The soil is one of the most important assets that one has in the forest,” says the trained Forester. “Without a healthy forest floor, a forest does not work, because the soil is decomposed everything to drop the trees in Deciduous or dry Branches.” In addition, he must provide the seed with a suitable base from which to germinate, so that one of the recurrent rejuvenation of the forest can take place, explains Stertenbrink.
Forestry Elmar Stertenbrink
His forestry business falls on behalf of the forest owners ‘ trees, sawed them and provides for their removal. The Special: His company works with horses. This Morning, the two cold blooded Pit and Carlos are by the Botanical garden of the city of Cologne, the car has been brought in the forest. The heavy horses are kept on the zerbeulte loading ramp, cleaned and harnessed. Your task: you are to drag the already felled tree trunks through the forest to a so-called Back end, where it by machine to be loaded.
Forestry 4.0 is not necessarily sustainable
“The Cologne forest is not an old forest,” explained the city Forester Michael Hundt. Many of the trees had only been in the 50s and 60s planted. Therefore, the light of the forest regularly, so that the remaining trees could unfold. “The wood obtained from the thinning, must somehow be managed. And because we do not want to beat as many paths in the forest that we can reach every tribe with the machine, we had to come up with something. Because at the time there were really only two Alternatives: Either the men cut the wood and take out or the horses.”
Back horse Pit before pulling the felled tree trunks to the back alley
In Cologne, has been chosen for horses. And that sounds like a step backwards, because the use of machines and the digitalization have now arrived in the forest. Trees are recorded digitally, drones with cameras for forest inventories. Huge forest machine, called a Harvester, complete the harvesting of wood, chop down the trees, delimbing and sawing it and prepare for the evacuation. In addition, send information about quantity of wood, type and quality of the forest operation and the nearest sawmill.
And so it looks like when a Harvester goes to work
More efficiency, but dead ground
From the higher efficiency of the forest owners are expecting a higher harvest. Here, the use of machinery is damaging the forest, says Elmar Stertenbrink. You should not imagine the forest floor as a solid matter, but rather like an underground Parking garage, which was full of holes. “In this open air spaces gases are formed. The roots of the trees and plants grow currents in the direction of this Gas. If we go now, with heavy equipment on the forest floor, the breaks, everything, then the house falls like a deck of cards.” Growth no longer takes place in a compacted soil.
Understand almost without words
While Stertenbrink told, left his two employees with the horses, Carlos and Pit in the forest and have started work. The forestry workers have the horses, only on a long leash, let them go sometimes. You can hear just a few and silent commands. If the several-Meter-long tree trunks are attached with chains to the horse’s harness, waiting for the horses to be patient. Only hardly audible commands, then pull the trunk up to the rear lane where you will then be removed later by machines.
Pit pulls up to the back alley and remains there, alone, waiting for the forestry workers
The way to the back alley has sought to Pit themselves, he exceeds it in the way tribes and remains without a call from alone in the alley, to the forest workers and to the root down bends. The huge horse would start running now, you could be injured of forestry workers through the tree trunk hard. But you trusted each other.
Pit waiting patiently until the tree on the harness is tightly bound. Without mutual trust it is not
As soon as the forestry workers straightens and starts to go back into the woods, turns around, Pit, unsolicited and trottet good-natured side to the next tribe.
Surface losses by whole-tree harvesting machine
Through the use of the horses which is about a metre wide rear lanes can be created at a distance of forty meters. The looks in forests managed with harvesters, in contrast, says Stertenbrink. “The forest must be attracted by all 20 meters with a four and a half feet wide alley, on the these great machines. The Forester loses, in fact, 20 to 25 percent of its forest area, because that is so driven now.”
In addition, horse use of the Branches that were sawed off of the trees in the forest remain and the ground fertilize. Also, the use of harvesters, the trees are abgeastet, but only on the Back end. These Branches upholster and then the heavy vehicle a bit. “That means All the nutrients are collected, where there is no tree will grow, because it is a back alley”. Also as a fertilizer, the Branches would no longer use in the back alley, nothing more, as the ground was vital, so Stertenbrink.
In contrast, the horses hooves straining and the downstream of the dragged tree trunks, the fragile forest floor is much less than a fully automatic wood harvesting machine.
Such a low track would not leave a Harvester
The Demands for inserts of the rear horses is increasing
The wood harvesting machinery is approximately a third cheaper than it can be stertenbrink with his horses. The short-term cost savings but long-term yields. This seems to be more and more forest owners is clear, says Stertenbrink. In the last thirty years, the demand for Work with the rear horses had increased significantly. Not only municipal, but also private forest owners would prefer long-term forms of Management, so that their children could still draw income from the forest.
For Pit and Carlos, the lunch break is approaching. The 800-pound horses dragged for almost three hours up to 200 kilos of heavy tree trunks and through the undergrowth. It comes hard on hard, you can also drag up to a ton of. Despite the cool Mornings the fur of the Musclemen starts vaping in the meantime. In the afternoon, a work block of three hours before you can again.
In the case of heavy trunks must soak Pit already powerful into the stuff
Around a third of Germany is covered with forests. It is a great treasure, because wood is a renewable resource increasingly in demand as fuel and building material, and also, for example, as a basis for new materials. In addition, forests are important for our climate, and the conservation of biodiversity. So, the Federal government has decided that by the year 2020, five percent of German forests are a natural development. The Rest is to be sustainably managed. In Cologne, it is well on the way there.
At the end of the work day, the tribes are neatly lined up on the edge of the Rear end ready for the removal