¶ FOLPI-XL
| Company | Integral |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Website | https://integral.co.nz/folpi-xl/ |
| Category | Planning & Inventory › Remote sensing & mapping |
Estate-wide production modeling
¶ Overview
FOLPI-XL (Forest Operations Long-term Planning Instrument — Extended) is a strategic forest operations planning model developed in Finland by the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla, now part of the Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke), designed to optimise long-term harvesting schedules and wood supply logistics across large forest estates. The model integrates stand-level growth and yield data with operational constraints such as harvesting machinery capacity, road network access, timber market demand, and environmental restrictions to generate cost-efficient multi-period wood procurement plans. FOLPI-XL extends the capabilities of earlier FOLPI versions by handling larger problem scales and incorporating more sophisticated linear programming and heuristic optimisation algorithms, enabling planners to evaluate trade-offs between economic returns, silvicultural objectives, and sustainability requirements over planning horizons of several decades. The tool is particularly relevant for industrial-scale plantation forestry where structured rotation management, even-aged stands, and predictable timber flows are the operational norm. In the Australian context, plantation managers in states such as Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia — where softwood and hardwood estates are managed for continuous wood supply to sawmills, pulp mills, and export markets — face comparable planning challenges to those addressed by FOLPI-XL. The model's ability to balance short-term harvest volumes with long-term stand development and age-class distribution makes it applicable to enterprises managing tens of thousands of hectares under long-term wood supply agreements. While FOLPI-XL has been most widely used in Scandinavian forestry, its underlying methodology informs internationally available planning platforms and serves as a reference model for forest management optimisation research globally.
¶ Assessment
Strong strategic decision-support that lowers financial and sustainability risk, with indirect productivity gains over long horizons.
¶ Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Integral |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Type | Company |
| Available in AU? | yes |
| FWPA RD&E | 8.1 |