The State Forest Management Centre (RMK) directs EUR 767 000 towards research, awaiting project applications 17.02

Among the topics offered by different scientists, research groups and RMK representatives, 12 prioritised topics were chosen at the recent RMK Research Council meeting, for which project applications are being awaited. “Behind every research topic, there is an actual challenge that needs to be solved. At that, we are hoping for the help of Estonian scientific research establishments,” Aigar Kallas, Chairman of the RMK Management Board, said when commenting on the selection. “Our firm wish is that the results of the applied research would be implemented in practice and used for the better protection and management of Estonia’s forests.”

The prioritised research topics for the upcoming application round are as follows:

• finding suitable volume equations for Estonian conditions, in order to measure the volume of growing forests and forest material;
• implementing remote monitoring in the inventorying of forests;
• growth, production capacity and management of economically important deciduous stands;
• developing a methodology for assessing the impact of forest management (primarily clear cutting and forestry improvement) on the landscape (social, economic and ecological aspects);
• improving the forests’ growth characteristics through selection;
• comparative analysis of perturbations in managed and natural forests under the conditions of a changing climate, and developing suitable forest protection measures to increase the perturbation immunity of the managed forests;
• methodology of assessing the efficiency of silvicultural activities (including forest regeneration, intermediate cuttings and forestry improvement);
• assessing the efficiency of Tetrao urogallus protection and finding alternative protection measures;
• possible measures of protection and economic models of the forests located in limited management zones (including special conservation areas);
• assessing the environmental impact of saving cutting waste and stumps, and possible implementations of the collecting technologies (where and how);
• ecological functionality of the network of forests and key habitats under strict protection;
• comparative analysis of suitability of regeneration cutting methods in different forest types.

Submission of the project applications shall be begin on 16 February and the deadline for submission is 10 April 2011. Applications shall be submitted electronically to the RMK Research Council. More information about the most relevant research subjects together with application forms is available at the RMK webpage www.rmk.ee/meist/teadustegevus (in Estonian). 

We suggest submitting the project applications before the ending deadline, to enable the Research Council to start processing them sooner. One of the most important criterions in assessing a project application is the scientific level of the project application, as well as the scientific competence of the applicants.

The RMK Research Council is a body of scientists and experts, established in 2008, counselling RMK’s Management Board in the ordering and assessing of applied research in the field of forest management. In the period 2008–2011, RMK allocated EEK 4 million for conducting applied research; three research projects are currently underway using that money.

The members of the Research Council are Asko Lõhmus, Head of the conservation biology group at the University of Tartu, Professor Krista Lõhmus, Head of the Chair of Ecophysiology at the University of Tartu, Professor Kalev Sepp, Head of the Department of Landscape Management and Nature Conservation at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Professor Ülo Mander, Head of the Chair of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology at the University of Tartu, Professor Kalev Jõgiste, Head of the Department of Forest Biology of the Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, and Professor Hardi Tullus, Head of Department of Department of Silviculture of the Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. In addition to academic experts, the Research Council also includes two employees of RMK.

Additional information:

Kristjan Tõnisson
Head Specialist of Environmental Management of RMK
Tel: 676 7728, 5691 8728
E-mail: kristjan.tonisson@rmk.ee