CASE STUDY - BRASH BALING
The company is leading on energy derived from forest biomass, and in the UK this includes supplying brash bundles and stumps to CHP boilers at UPM Shotton and UPM Caledonian paper mills.
With construction of the boiler at UPM Caledonian well under way two brash bundlers are working in south and central Scotland to build up fuel stock at roadside. This is in addition to the one working in Wales and England supplying brash to UPM Shotton's CHP boiler.Forest owners have been quick to see the advantages to restock ground preparation after the removal of the majority of the brash. The bundlers have proved very effective in heathland restoration projects and have been used on a number of such operations with the RSPB in southern England.
Innovation in action
Harvesting pockets of mature conifer from peat bogs on a remote National Trust site at Malham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales was an ambitious venture, requiring a novel solution. The National Trust was keen to remove the trees to prevent natural regeneration damaging the precious peat bog environment.
Modern harvesting machinery was required to work the sites, but when peat bogs were unable to support their weight staff from the company’s North West England office devised a sustainable answer.
Trees were harvested, with branches intact, then baled and cut into lengths of 3-6 metres. The bales were then forwarded across the peaty, boggy terrain to create flotation tracks able to support the movement of heavy machinery as it moved between different tree blocks. The weight of the laden machines will depress the conifer bales into the ground allowing the peat to permeate through the bales which, once contaminated, will recolonise with the natural vegetation of the fell. The bales were bound using sisal, a natural string product, which will decompose through time.
“UPM Tilhill’s approach enabled us to maintain the integrity and delicate ecology of the peat bogs at the same time as minimising the impact of timber extraction on the local population and the local highway infrastructure,” said the National Trust’s Martin Davies. “Peat is a precious resource. Not only is it the fabric on which the landscape is built, but it is also vital to our environment. If we disturb the peat too much the carbon that is stored within it can be released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.”
For more information on timber harvesting and brash bundling Freephone 0800 3 28 21 28, or ask a question|.