JuWaPfl: A decision support tool to estimate times and costs of processes related to young-forest maintenance

Abstract

The JuWaPfl software described here helps to estimate the expected time required and the costs of eight processes related to the maintenance of young forests. It can therefore support forest managers in planning forest interventions related to pruning, selective thinning, mowing around young trees, protection against browsing damage, measures to prevent snow gliding, creation of access trails, planning of skid trails, and planting. These processes belong to the so-called first stage of timber production and are important in ensuring that forests grow well until they are ready to be harvested and that the wood has the desired quality. The software is open-source and available free of charge in four languages, namely English, German, French, and Italian. It is written in Java and is platform-independent.

Keywords

• Ecosystem services
• First production stage
• Open-source software
• Sustainable forest management
• Tree planting
• Wood production