Plantation productivity is a function of soil health and condition, together with other factors such as genetics, climate and pest and disease risk. The sustainability of our plantation estate in terms of growth is clearly and directly linked to the sustainability of land use practices.
To limit negative impacts on soil values, we:
- plan and implement activities to account for soil properties, particularly erosion hazard and compaction potential
- implement guidelines to reduce landslip risks on steep sites, including exclusion of harvesting where the risk is considered high
- avoid concentrating machine activity or remediate compacted areas following harvest
- implement harvest and site preparation systems that retain the majority of nutrient-rich organic material on site
- account for fluctuating water tables and associated machine traffic so as to avoid operating on sites prone to water-logging
- undertake fuel reduction burning that emphasises the need to retain the nutrient-rich duff layer above mineral soil.