Innovative technical solutions for forest exploitation with low environmental impact and safety on working sites.

Five yarding methods were compared, three of them based on utilization of short wood (one consisting in the traditional method) and the last two in the full tree system and long tree system, respectively. Some considerations were made about the productivity of the five methods, the surfaces served by the individual implants. Moreover, a comparison is proposed among the negative impacts of the utilization of mules, small PVC raceways,monorail (involved in the utilization of short wood), mini cable system and farm tractor with forest winch (for long wood utilization). In any case, in addition to the specific technical aspects of each method, an important role on the environmental impact linked to the use of each system is also played by the lack of professional training. In fact, no professional school of forestry is available in Italy.