Systematics of Forestry Technology for Tracing the Timber Supply Chain

Abstract

Traceability is the ability to follow the processes that a raw material or product goes through. For forestry, this means identifying the wood from the standing tree to the mill entrance and recording all information about the technical (production) and spatial (transportation) manipulation of the timber by linking it to the ID. We reviewed the literature for developments in timber flow traceability. Findings range from disillusionment with the non-application of available forestry technology to enthusiasm for the advancement of technology that—given appropriate incentives of an economic, environmental, consumer-oriented and legislative nature—can rapidly lead to widespread end-to-end media-interruption-free implementation. Based on our research, the solution lies in optical biometric systems that identify the individual piece of wood—without attaching anything—at three crucial points: during assortment at the skid road, at the forest road and at the mill entrance. At all of these points, the data accruing during the timber supply process must be linked to the ID of the piece of wood via data management.