Rugged Notepad for Managing Sustainable Forests

The Hessen-Forst Enterprise, an influential forest service in Hessen, Germany, recently purchased 580 of Juniper Systems’ Mesa Geo Rugged Notepads to manage the nearly 1.7 million acres of forests in Hessen. Hessen forests are managed in a way that makes them completely sustainable.

The Hessen-Forst Enterprise keeps the forests sustainable by only cutting down timber equal to the amount of growth the previous year. This method of managing Hessen forests can be likened to a bank account, where only the accrued interest is withdrawn every year without ever touching the initial capital. This requires knowing exactly which trees were cut down last, and which trees are up to be cut down next. The Enterprise must also track the forests’ annual growth, in order to know how much timber may be “withdrawn” each year. The forest service needed an efficient method of collecting and managing all of this and other data in order to maintain the sustainability of the forests.

The Hessen-Forst Enterprise held a rigorous selection process, evaluating a number of rugged handheld options before settling on the Mesa Geo. They wanted a handheld with a display large enough to easily view their mapping programs, but without the bulkiness of a tablet. The Mesa Geo fit the mould perfectly. They needed reliable GPS performance under heavy tree canopy, so the Mesa Geo was tested extensively to show that it could deliver. The Mesa Geo was also selected for its ruggedness, long battery life, Windows Mobile operating system, and for Juniper Systems’ reputation in forestry and commitment to customer service.

The German foresters at Hessen-Forst are among the most respected foresters in Europe and Juniper is proud to have been selected to support their field data collection, said Trevor Brown, natural resources market manager at Juniper Systems. With the level of detail with which they manage their forests, it is essential that they have a high-quality data collection tool that is easy to use and has reliable GPS performance under heavy tree canopy.

To read more about how the Hessen-Forst Enterprise is using the Mesa Geo for forest management, see here.