Daragh Little of VEON marking trees for the second thinning of a Sycamore plantation in Co. Sligo. White ring is for final crop trees and red rings denote trees to be removed. For every final crop tree we are marking two trees that compete with it. Once tree marking is done, the contractor will come later in spring to harvest the site. All thinning timber will be sold as firewood.
It is essential that forest thinning is carried out at the right time to maximise timber income and this can start as early as 15 years with certain species. Income from first thinning is low in value, however as the plantation matures, the income from subsequent thinnings substantially increases. The majority of income is secured at the end of rotation when the final tree crop is clear-felled.
The only way to ensure the correct trees are being taken out of the forest during each thinning is to mark the trees to be removed. Timber marking has definite advantages over harvester driver selections. Registered foresters select and paint-mark individual trees that need to be removed. This ensures trees with growth defects or those competing with high quality trees are removed.