Timber quality in great Britain- key issues and implications for forestry engineering

摘要

Concerns about the quality of future supplies of British grown softwood sawlogs have been voiced throughout the forestry and wood using industries in Great Britain. In response to these concerns, the Timber Quality Research Programme within Forest Research aims to develop methods of assessing and predicting timber quality, with initial emphasis on sitka spruce. This paper highlights some of the possible implications of timber quality issues for forestry engineering, including development of technology to ensure optimal use of the existing forest resource and engineering solutions to facilitate the production of high quality timber from future crops.