What is Social Forestry?
Social forestry is when forests are managed for the benefit of the local community. It includes many aspects of forest management, for example, afforestation projects, social development, and forest protection.
In social forestry, the needs of the local communities come first, unlike other forestry projects. The principal goal is to meet the needs of the locals.
Types of Social Forestry
Agro-Forestry:
The first type, agro-forestry, involves the growth of trees to provide landowners with agricultural and tree products commercially.
The primary objective is to gain interactions between forestry and agriculture. Generally, it is implemented by business executives in the agriculture industry using agriculture ERP software to maintain their agriculture enterprise.
Agro-forestry offers social benefits and economic benefits as it provides ecological goods and services.
Farm Forestry:
Farm forestry is the second type of social forestry that manages trees for a specific purpose, mainly within the farming context.
The purpose usually is to provide timber and food for farming operations and managing livestock animals. It offers benefits, including shelter and pasture for animals, improved living conditions, and maintenance of soil and water health.
Extension Forestry:
This type of forestry involves planting trees on the sides of roads, railways, and canals. It has become increasingly popular in urban areas. Extension forestry is primarily beneficial in creating forests in wastelands and common dry village lands.
Community Forestry:
Community forestry is the management of communal lands regarding planting trees. The community members unanimously decide and implement forestry projects, usually taking help from forestry software. They take part in planting, growing, and managing forest trees.
Benefits of Social Forestry
Social forestry has a myriad of benefits. Ecologically, growing trees in barren lands help increase biodiversity as it offers habitation to various animals, birds, plants, and insects.
Trees also play an essential role in the fight against global warming as they remove carbon dioxide from the environment. Thus, social forestry is seen as the best way to remove carbon dioxide, especially in urban areas. This also cleans and improves the quality of the surrounding air.
Moreover, social forestry has health benefits, too, as trees are seen as a natural treatment for stress and anxiety. Taking a walk in a park with trees is a source of calm for people who are distressed.
What is Sustainable Forestry?
Sustainable means to ‘maintain and continue’, while forestry is the science of managing trees or forests. Thus, sustainable forestry is about caring for trees and managing forests to provide natural resources, like wood, for future generations. It is concerned with all parts of a forest–trees, soil, wildlife, and water. It ensures that future generations have forests to meet their needs.
Sustainable Forest Management
Sustainable forestry is complex and involves many factors. To care for forests and manage them sustainably, it is essential to have responsible forest management.
They have to carry out projects that ensure the sustainability of forests, for example, looking at whether a forest has enough seeds to make a future forest. They also have to carry out afforestation projects and discourage deforestation.
Best Forestry Software 2024
Forest managers need to handle a lot of tasks, like tracking the inventory, operating harvests, managing contracts, and many more. Manually carrying out these tasks can exhaust forest managers and can lead to errors. Forestry software helps you manage all these tasks efficiently and accurately.
Here are some of the best forestry software in 2024 that assist forestry managers manage tasks efficiently.
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Forest Metrix
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Forest Metrix is a software that combines a highly customized user interface with computational power to plan timber operations. It is best for analyzing timber cruisers and other forest data collections.
This software is compatible with most mobile devices, namely iPhones and iPads. It is also functional on Apple laptops and PCs. However, it is not built for Microsoft Windows.
With Forest Metrix, you can see graphical representations of collected data regarding trees and forests. Moreover, you can customize the presentation of data to any form you would like. Forest Metrix App allows the integration of camera, GPS, maps, and all other features on mobile systems to collect visual data.
Forest Metrix App also has a tally sheet that is easy on the eyes and large buttons with clear contrasts to help you navigate around the app easily. Forest Metrix also works offline and gives you results and analysis regarding the forestry data.
Moreover, you can contact the company for a free 20-minutes demonstration regarding the software and mobile app and its features in detail.
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ArboStar
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ArboStar is a cloud-based forestry management solution. It was specifically developed to combat the challenges faced by the tree care business. This easy-to-use software allows the integration of various modules and other management tools that you would need to carry out your forestry operations.
ArboStar provides you with a real-time view of your crew and equipment location on an interactive map. This makes it easy for you to direct instructions to your workers and employees regarding the forestry project.
Moreover, with this software, you can schedule and plan all your operations and projects with all the factors in mind. The software builds an efficient service schedule based on the location of the project and crew equipment.
Their website also has an option to request a demo, so you can always check out its features in detail and discuss pricing.
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SingleOps
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SingleOps is an end-to-end business management software specifically designed for tree care companies. It supports green industry companies that specialize in tree care, plant healthcare, and lawn care. This software helps you manage your inventories, route optimization, and many more.
SingleOps has several modules that also includes a CRM solution with an unlimited cloud database that you can access from anywhere. It allows you to track the performance of your plant care business and provides insights.
This forestry software is compatible with both mobile devices and desktops. You can access all of its features even if there is no internet connection. It allows you to browse through the analytics offline.
SingleOps has a free online demo to guide you through its features.
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Tree Plotter
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Tree Plotter is another forest inventory software that is cloud-based and specializes in inventory management and data collection.
It is built on a Geographic Information System (GIS) system and is optimized to an app for use on mobile devices. It can be used worldwide by private organizations, charitable organizations, or governmental organizations.
The Tree Plotter software is designed to help plot tree inventories and manage their data using a variety of tools. You can import existing inventories to this software for use and analysis or add new ones.
With the purchase of the software, multiple users can access its features with privileged authorization depending on the implementation. Moreover, you can integrate it with other modules for optional feature expansion.
Its connectivity with Google Maps and Street View allows trees points to be viewed in their virtual locations.
Additionally, it functions well on any web browser, Windows, and Android devices. However, it is not compatible with Apple devices, namely iPhones and iPads.
You can also request a one-on-one demo by contacting the company. You can get all your questions answered and find out which one of their solutions can help you manage your business.
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Logger’s Edge
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Logger’s Edge is an on-premises forest and trees software designed mainly to aid small-sized to growing timber businesses track the production of logs and timber. This timber cruise software has vital features regarding profit/loss analysis, records and timber production analysis, reporting, and equipment tracking.
Logger’s Edge allows its users to enter information and data to set up rates for the timber. These rates are based on factors like product type, species, and destination. Moreover, you can Logger’s Edge to generate statements for contractors and landowners, displaying rates of the product with details.
This timberland software helps you manage operations like loading log trucks and shipping them to the customers. In addition to that, it calculates payment based on the weight of the logs, distance, and the number of logs.
Logger’s Edge also monitors the working hours of the staff members and workers and calculates any overtime to assist with payroll processing of the staff. It is compatible with Windows desktops only. It does not function on Android and Apple devices.
Logger’s Edge does not give any free trials or demos, though you can contact the company for additional information regarding its features and pricing.
Conclusion
Using forestry software is very helpful as it efficiently manages almost every task in forestry management. Each software has its own area of expertise, so it is better to sort out your needs before looking for the best software. Your ultimate choice will depend on the type of tasks you want the software to assist you with.
