Nelson Mandela University and Ellepot hosted the Modern Silviculture Symposium from 15 to 17 October in Howick, gathering around 200 industry stakeholders from across Africa and further afield to learn about the latest innovations and trends in sivilculture.
MANDELA IN ACTION: Nelson Mandela delegates at the conference included, from left, Henry Zitha, Thembikosi Zulu, Dr Muedanyi Ramantswana and Junior Khoza; CONFERENCE TEAM: Nelson Mandela University and Ellepot organised the Modern Silviculture Symposium held in KwaZulu-Natal in October 2024
The University’s George Campus Forestry Programme Coordinator, Dr Mueḓanyi Ramantswana, who co-organised the conference with Ellepot, says the needs of the industry are changing, with cutting-edge research pointing the way towards a more productive and sustainable future.
“This was a significant symposium for our industry and it was a resounding success. We had a lot of international participants who shared eye-opening and valuable information,” said Dr Ramantswana.
“The delegates enjoyed interacting and learning from the presenters to have a better understanding of where silviculture technology is going overall, globally, not just locally.
ON-SITE LEARNING: Delegates went out into the field on the third day of the conference; TECHNOLOGY: Aerial crop-spraying tools like drones can help reduce the use of pesticides
“They also enjoyed the field day because they were able to practically go out to the field and see the tools and machines being demonstrated like soil augers, planting tools, drones, and semi-mechanised planting machinery in action.
“Furthermore, the delegates also visited the nursery to draw the links between the propagation of plants required for the field.”
Although the introduction of advanced technology into silviculture is relatively new, Dr Ramantswana said there were new developments all the time which continuously changed how the industry is working.
“We need to be aware of the global and local trends through knowledge- sharing platforms such as this symposium where various stakeholders can robustly and professionally exchange ideas,” he said.
“We need to do things more efficiently, such as developing and adopting systems and tools that improve productivity, and reduce costs and environmentally negative impacts, while remaining globally competitive.
“There is also a drive to improve overall worker safety, improve work quality and reduce environmental impacts (for example, less use of pesticides and preserving soil productivity).
“For example, if we can use advanced aerial crop-spraying tools like drones we can reduce pesticide usage as they are more precise and apply the chemical more efficiently compared to conventional manual and tractor based systems.
“Technology is not a silver bullet, however, hence we need to also assess the risks associated with any new technologies we adopt.
“One the main drivers of the use of technology is to reduce the labour-intensive and ergonomically unfriendly ways of working traditionally associated with forestry.”
He presented on the subject: “Where are we going? Global modern silviculture trends”, and two of his Forest Engineering students on the George Campus of Nelson Mandela University also presented a papers at the conference.
Dr Ramantswana recognises that the workforce of 2024 has very different expectations to those of past generations, and the industry must evolve and adapt to the changing needs of society and the workplace.
“Young people are not very interested in going into this kind of hard labour, and this is why we need to gradually modernise. However, we need to also recognise that forestry is predominantly practiced in rural areas where there may not be many employment opportunities for unskilled people.
“We need to keep a balance between the introduction of technology and the employment needs within these communities. Forestry stakeholders need to strategically adopt technology and upskill local communities to be participants in opportunities birthed through innovation – it must be a collaborative and inclusive transition.”
Originally from Limpopo, and now working at Nelson Mandela University’s “green campus” on the Garden Route, Dr Ramantswana completed his PhD in Forest Science 2020 where he focused on forecasting and risk modelling of key silviculture technologies at the University of Pretoria.
Nelson Mandela University has hosted the Modern Silviculture event virtually since 2020, to share knowledge about modern technologies.
“For the first time, this event was physical to encourage interaction and networking around this important topic,” said Dr Ramantswana.
“KwaZulu-Natal is the hub for forestry, along with Mpumalanga,” he said of the decision to host the first conference in that province, and not in the forested areas around the George Campus.
The 2024 event was co-organised by Ellepot and Nelson Mandela University in a collaborative effort to explore opportunities and challenges within the forestry value chain.
The symposium focused on technologies shaping the landscape of our industry such as digitalisation, automation, robotics, big data and efficiency improvements of manually orientated operations in the field of silviculture.
The Modern Silviculture Symposium catered for nursery managers, horticulturists, foresters, contractors, forestry specialists, consultants, students, government policy makers and natural resource managers keen to learn and engage with leading experts in the field of silviculture innovation and development.