ForestTECH 2021/22 Programme

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

22 February 2022 | All workshops are in-person only

Timezone: NZDT
9.00am - 12.00pm

Workshop 1 | Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service: The Forestry ETS and NES-Plantation Forestry workshop

Venue: Rimu Room, Scion

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10.30am - 12.30pm

Workshop 2 | Eagle Technology workshop, Imagery & Remote Sensing with ArcGIS

Venue: Cards Room, Distinction Rotorua Hotel

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1.30pm - 5.00pm

Workshop 3 | Remote Sensing Cluster Group Meeting

Venue: Rimu Room, Scion

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DAY ONE   |   23 February 2022
Innovations in Remote Sensing, Data Capture & Forest Inventory
Timezone: NZDT
10.00am

Welcome & Introduction

FIEA

10.10am

Key Note Address | 'Technology on Steroids': Remote Sensing, Forest Data Capture & Inventory Management – Past, present and future

David Herries, General Manager, Interpine, New Zealand

Session 1: Advancements in Remote Sensing & Data CaPture Technologies

10.40am

High Resolution Satellite Imagery for Species Identification and Volume Estimation

  • The use of multispectral high resolution stereo imagery for species identification
  • Volume estimation based on remote sensing and ground truthing
  • Advantages and disadvantages learnt along the way

Michael Breetzke, Director: Business Development, Swift Geospatial, South Africa

11.00am

National LiDAR Mapping for Land Managers

The development and roll out of higher resolution national elevation data

Bjorn Johns, Elevation & Imagery Technical Leader, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), New Zealand

11.20am

Creating Operational and Strategic Forest Inventories at an Industrial Scale – A Canadian Case Study

  • Use of Individual tree canopy (ITC) and Area Based (ABA) LiDAR inventory methods to create operational scale inventory data for forest estate modelling.
  • Case study of West Fraser’s Blue Ridge Lumber. Production of a forest inventory of over 600,000 ha in western Canada.
  • Advancements in tree segmentation, species prediction, and polygon generation used along with accuracy levels achieved.

Cam Brown, Strategic Planning Forester, Forsite Consultants Ltd, Salmon Arm, Canada

11.40am

TECH Showcase

Short presentations on new product innovations

12.00pm

Session Break

1.00pm

Mobile Laser Scanning (Hovermap) data for Characterising the 3D Structure of Complex Eucalypt Forests

Results from recent in-forest trials

Dr Christine Stone, Forest Science, NSW Department of Primary Industries

1.20pm

Non-Destructive Testing of Native Hardwood Species

Trial results using Australia’s first sub-canopy autonomous drone and ultrasound technology

Mike Sutton, Manager Innovation & Research, FCNSW, Australia

Session 2: Transforming Geospatial Data into Knowledge - The Practical Application & Operation of Remote Sensing Data

1.50pm

High Density LiDAR Clouds using ALS & TLS for Individual Tree Inventories

Results from a global forest products company’s recent research & operational trials

Fernando Bustamante, Technical Manager, Forestal Arauco, Chile

2.10pm

High-Resolution Under-Canopy Data Collection in conjunction with VR Analysis for Forest Inventory

From research to operational use by local forest companies

Sam West, Senior GIS Analyst, Interpine, New Zealand & Jan Rombouts, Resources & Planning Manager, OneFortyOne, Australia

2.40pm

Counting ALL seedlings: AI for precise seedling survival, vitality and weed mapping

Update on advancements in applied deep learning and AI for optimum plantation establishment and weed management. Showcasing examples from growers in Australia and New Zealand, in Eucalyptus and Pine.

Albrecht von Ruffer, CEO, Skylab, Germany & Mark McRostie, Resource Manager, Australian Bluegum Plantations, Australia

3.00pm

Session Break

Sponsored by Bracke Forest

3.30pm

Plantation Watch: Monitoring plantation change at scale

Pete Watt, Head of Resource Monitoring, Indufor Asia Pacific, New Zealand

4.00pm

Using Deep Learning & AI to identify forest loss

Lessons from a large-scale forest inventory of 7,500 forested areas in New Zealand

Matt Lythe, Managing Director, Lynker Analytics, New Zealand

4.30pm

Drone and forest inventory innovations being used in the forests of Finland & Sweden

  • A digital online platform for log stock data in mill yards using image analyses from drones
  • Using multisource remote sensing data to improve the analysis of diameter class distributions to improve the cross-cutting accuracy of harvesting operations and log grade returns

Mika Korvenranta, Digitalization Manager, Stora Enso Oy, Finland

5.00pm

Day One Concludes

DAY TWO   |   24 February 2022
Innovations in Forest Establishment, Planting & Mechanised Silviculture
Timezone: NZDT
9.00am

Welcome & Introduction

FIEA

Session 1: Precision Silviculture - Innovations with Mechanised & Automated Planting Technologies

9.10am

Mechanized Solutions for Silviculture, Precision Forestry and Big Data Management

  • Mechanized and automated solutions for seedling packaging and movement from the nursery to the field
  • A new planting machine under development in Sweden
  • Eco-RFID tags to automate the tracking process of products in the value chain
  • Stora Enso approach with precision forestry and big data management

Marcos Wichert, VP Plantation Forest Management, Stora Enso, Finland

9.40am

Precision Mechanised Planting

GPS advancements for reporting and showing seedling and mound locations, areas, planting densities, and planted amounts in real-time

Henri Syvänen, Sales Manager, Risutec, Finland

10.00am

Session Break

Sponsored by Bracke Forest

10.30am

Two Seasons of Mechanised Planting in Kinleith Forest, Tokoroa

Results, learnings and opportunities

Mike Baker, Technical Forestry Manager, Manulife Forest Management (NZ), New Zealand

11.00am

Mechanised Planting

Results from operational trials including productivity gains and the application of hydrogel to extend the planting season

Henry Fear, Director, Henry Fear Contracting, New Zealand

11.30am

TECH Showcase

Short presentations on new product innovations

12.00pm

Session Break

Session 2: Forest Establistment - Innovations in Establishment & Post Planting Technologies

1.00pm

A New Canopy Foliage Sampling Tool using UAVs

Hughes La Vigne, Cofounder, DeLeaves, Canada

1.15pm

Aerial Spray Drift Management for Forestry Operations

Determining buffer and exclusion zones to accurately account for spray drift

Brian Richardson, Principal Scientist, Scion, New Zealand

1.45pm

Minimising Spray Drift in Environmentally Sensitive Areas Using Drones

Results from recent trials in forestry operations

Warrick Funnell, Chief Pilot, Agdrone, New Zealand

2.15pm

Conference Concludes