ForestTech Events

Programme Details

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2011 Post Event Details

2010 Post Event Details

2009 Post Event Details

Presentations for Attendees

2011 Australian Programme Flyer

2011 NZ Programme Flyer

Programme Details

What was ForestTECH 2011?
Together, around 200 forest resource and inventory foresters attended ForestTECH 2011. This latest technology series was designed and attended by resource and inventory foresters from both sides of the Tasman.

The ForestTECH 2011 programme covered recent advances in;

Field Data Collection Tools
Remote Sensing Technologies
Forest Sampling & Inventory
Forest Management Systems & Estate Planning
Harvest Optimisation Tools

Event Outcomes

As anticipated two years ago when the first extensive trials were being rolled out across some large tracts of Australian forests, the operational and financial benefits from remote sensing technologies have turned out to be substantial.

For those companies trialling the technology over the last couple of years, almost without exception, the application of the data and magnitude of the savings have turned out to be much higher than first expected. Forestry Tasmania, as one of the first adopters of LiDAR in this part of the world for example had budgeted on saving around 15% on the time taken for harvest planning. The organisation’s already achieving time savings of 29% per planning operation using collected LiDAR data. In plantation management, the data is also being used for site quality assessments, harvest scheduling, road-lining and remedial silviculture. Change management has been pretty simple – in fact, the LiDAR products are now being demanded by field staff.

In just two years remote sensing for estimating key stand variables is now routinely being built into forest inventory and management planning. As well as LiDAR, a number of other new platforms and technologies have been tested over the last six months. Results already are pointing to real improvements for forest planning purposes.

Feedback to the ForestTECH 2011 series

Feedback to this practical technology event has been outstanding. ForestTECH 2011 again provided an independent platform for foresters to learn first-hand from those who had completed trials in the last 12 months and were using collected data from remote sensing, to hear how they had integrated the new technology and what it had meant operationally and financially to their company. Further details and images from the event can be found on the 2011 Post Event Details tab of this website.

Planned follow-up

Based on feedback from this latest series, a technology update with this forest inventory and planning focus is likely to be run again in late 2013. If at this early stage you would like any further information on timing or what is being planned, please make contact with our FIEA offices.

Comments from ForestTECH 2011 delegates

"Very worth while from both a networking and information perspective”

"Great mix of new products/technology plus case studies of real applications"

“Bigger and better than the last one I attended. Great venue, accommodation and catering. All good”

"Presenting information about practical applications of new technology was great"

"Well organised. Time management was excellent and Albury is a great loaction"

"The preparation that went into this conference obviously paid off. There was a good balance of topics presented"

"I got tremendous value from this conference. As the LiDAR project leader for our organisation this conference helped me understand the current state or research and application, both nationally and internationally. It was also great for developing collaborative links and networking"

“Great conference – one of the best I have attended”

"The event was really well organised. There were a lot of innovative new systems discussed that will be of value to our company"

"Very informative. Flowed to schedule and excellent place to network"