Forest Operations > Environmental Care Principles > Soil

Soil

Soil quality is very important for forest plantation growth and native forests.

Soil erosion and compaction should be avoided by forest machinery and trucks. Access roads and log extraction tracks must be maintained (See Fig 55).

Truck drivers should try not to put deep wheel ruts in forest access road by steering the wheels in a different place each time they enter the forest.

Machine operators may need to place slash on tracks to stop wheel rutting.

Fig 55 Soil erosion from heavy forest machinery traffic.

Particular care should be taken in areas which are prone to becoming waterlogged, and areas with steeper slopes.

Soil contamination affects animals and plants which live in the soil.

Fuels, oils, and other materials contaminate soil so there must not be any spills into the environment during servicing and repair of machinery.

All wastes should be removed from the site during and following operations. This includes spills of fluids from machinery and personal rubbish.