Our silviculture aims to conserve or create forests, applying the best techniques and treatments to achieve high investment returns, guaranteeing forest protection and the permanence of social and economic benefits.
Forestry plans can be prepared for the full rotation or for specific phases of the forest cycle, for a wide variety of native and non native species.
The quality of our plantation management results in FSC certification which may enhance the value of wood harvested in the future.
Site Selection
Effective selection of growing sites tailored to the particular species, climate and soil characteristics is a specialty of the BARCA team and its approach. Through extensive data collection and experience with a variety of high value tropical hardwood species, BARCA has accumulated valuable knowledge in how to reliably select land and ensure effective prescriptions for plantation success.
Seed/Source selection
Proper seed source selection is one of the most critical factors in maximizing the growth and quality of plantations. BARCA employs two sources: cuttings obtained from evaluated and selected trees, and seeds certified by the National Seed Office. We produce seedlings in our own nurseries, in order to ensure more uniform growth and greater performance than in plantations where careful seed selection was not undertaken.
Site Preparation
BARCA uses a wide variety of site preparation techniques, depending on the site conditions. The goals of site preparation may include:
- elimination of competing vegetation from the planting site
- modification of compacted layers from the subsoil and reduction of soil density
- improvement of soil chemistry through fertilization, liming and other treatments
- improvement of soil moisture and drainage patterns
- reduction of soil erosion risk
Our techniques include:
- regular and deep plowing
- contour plowing
- sub-soiling
- manual spot preparation
- application and incorporation of soil amendments
- construction of drainage ditches
Techniques are chosen on a site-specific basis. Reduction of soil erosion potential and other environmental degradation is always of key consideration in selecting the best site preparation technique.
Planting
Our methods ensure the highest quality plantation, focusing on a number of key areas:
- Careful seedling transportation, storage and handling. BARCA uses techniques developed by its parent company over the last forty years of silviculture experience to minimize seedling shock.
- Correct spacing. Optimizing the spacing of the trees reduces management and maintenance costs and enhances the results of pruning and other treatments.
- Careful planting. Trees planted in the correct soil, to the correct depth and with natural root placement, significantly outperform poorly planted trees.
- Correct site selection. In multi-species plantations, careful matching of the species to the slope, moisture and soil conditions results in significantly enhanced growth and reduces environmental risks. In single species plantations, careful site selection ensures that money is not wasted planting trees in sites where they cannot perform.
The quality of BARCA’s planting ensures that later silviculture costs are minimized, and that plantations are easy to manage.
Brushing
Brushing is a critical early step in the creation of a successful plantation. By eliminating competition both above and below ground, the planted trees are allowed to grow at their maximum rate.
The goal of brushing is to allow the trees to grow to the point where they can control the competing species themselves. BARCA recognizes that maintaining understory species in the stand is critical to reducing soil erosion and designs its brushing treatments to meet this goal.
BARCA uses a number of brushing techniques, including:
- inter-row plowing
- manual brushing
- motor-manual brushing using brush-saws
BARCA designs its plantations to minimize the need for brushing, by encouraging early plantation crown closure.
Pruning
In high-value tropical hardwood plantations, correctly timed pruning significantly increases the proportion of knot-free wood produced by the plantation. BARCA designs and undertakes its pruning programs based on the product mix desired from the plantation. During pruning operations, tools are continuously disinfected to prevent disease transfer.
The timing of pruning operations is critical, to reduce the size of the knots in the core of the tree and to minimize re-sprouting of branches from the pruned tree. Selection of the correct trees to be pruned is another critical part of the treatment in order to minimize pruning costs. BARCA’s training program ensures that its workforce is skilled in selecting the appropriate trees to be pruned and uses tools and techniques which minimize the scarring around the stump of the pruned branch.
Thinning
BARCA determines the planting density for its plantations in order to promote early crown closure and to maximize the opportunity to select the best trees for the final stand. Properly undertaken, thinnings balance the required spacing and quality of the stand and result in growing higher quality wood volume with fewer trees, significantly enhancing the value of the stand. BARCA’s trained thinning crews are skilled in tree and density selection.
The timing of the thinning procedure is critical to maintaining optimal growth rates in the stand. BARCA has developed a method which uses a number of stand variables to identify the optimal time for thinning the stand.
Plantation and Infrastructure Maintenance
Maintaining a plantation involves more than just planting and maintaining the trees. Activities such as the maintenance of fences, roads, houses and other infrastructure are critical to ensuring that work can be undertaken effectively and in a timely and cost-effective manner. In addition to these basics, BARCA’s plantation maintenance activities include:
- protection of native forest patches and other natural features
- continuous pest and disease management and monitoring
- elimination of erosion and other environmental problems
- installation of permanent sample plots to track the progress of the plantation
