Developments in precision forestry since 2006 : proceedings of the International Precision Forestry Symposium, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 1-3 March 2010

Proceedings of the International Precision Forestry Symposium. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch. South Africa, 1 – 3 March 2010. Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

These proceedings represent scientific contributions to this Precision Forestry Symposium titled “Developments in Precision Forestry since 2006” held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from 1 to 3 March 2010. The symposium was jointly organized by the Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University (the host) and the Chair for Forest Work Science and Applied Informatics, Technische Universität München (TUM). The objective of this symposium is to provide details of research results and promote communication and information sharing on precision applications in forest operations. This symposium is the culmination of a number of events and initiatives, not only in South Africa, but also in Europe and North America. The initial idea of presenting the First South African Precision Forest Symposium in 2003 and the formation of the Precision Land-use and Management working group were initiated by events at Washington State’s Precision Forestry Cooperative’s initiative and their presentation of the First international Precision Forestry Cooperative Symposium in 2001. In addition, precision developments in Africa made researchers at Stellenbosch take note of the enormous potential which precision based forest operations offer the forest industry. These events and initiatives led to a close relationship between Stellenbosch University and TUM in the presentation of both symposia and extensive collaborative research activities. Without this partnership much of what has happened over the past few years would not have been possible. I would like to thank all those who were involved in the organization of this symposium for their significant contributions to the success of this event. We are also indebted to the authors of the extended abstracts included in this volume as well as attending delegates. I would also like to thank our sponsors; Southern Mapping Company, Stihl, Husqvarna, FAO, MTO and Optron Geometrics for their generous financial contributions to this event. Lastly my appreciation to the members of the Department of Forest and Wood Science – Hannel Ham, Poppie Gordon, Cynthia Lu, Anton Kunneke, and Martin Ziesak for their organizational work in the background. These proceedings are reproductions of extended abstracts submitted to the symposium with editing to achieve consistent format. No attempt was made to review or verify results, although the abstracts were reviewed for suitability by members of the symposium scientific review committee as set below.

Stellenbosch University

Stihl

Husqvarna

FAO

MTO

Southern Mapping

OPTRON geomatrics

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