Plantation forestry: an analysis of the domain

Plantation forests the world over have been established in order to supply industrial mills with wood. It is estimated that by 2050, over half of the world’s requirements for industrial timber could be supplied from plantations, thus reducing the pressure on natural forests. Ensuring that the plantation, with its many stands, different planted species, terrains, etc., delivers the correct volume of timber over time is a complex problem. Although many forest harvest models and systems have been described in the literature, not many have been described from a computer science or information systems perspective. In this paper, the plantation forestry domain (based on South African experience) is described using formal models (Z notation), augmented by semi-formal (conceptual) models. Since plantations are generally planted to provide wood to mills, the forest-to-mill supply chain is described. This paper contributes toward an understanding of the plantation forestry domain.