It may bring a strange picture to your mind when you think of a forest full of trees that have barcodes thanks to POS barcode printers, barcode verifiers/readers and label applicators. However, it is becoming a realistic tool in the efforts to manage the forestry process and track illegal logging activities that are damaging the environment.
Tracking Sustainable Practices and Discouraging Illegal Logging
This new barcode printer and barcode Reader / verifier strategy is being enacted in forests around the world, including those located in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Hardwood trees in these areas have received plastic barcodes that have been nailed into the trees as a tagging system to help track sustainable forestry practices that are now required in these countries. It is hoped that this tracking system with barcode reading / verifying and barcoding software technology will discourage those companies that have been illegally logging and importing these trees to countries like the United States.
The barcode software and technology allows forest managers in the area to use handheld devices to scan the tag attached to each tree that is cut down and then upload that data to a database, using a satellite or Internet connection. In this way, the barcode software database can track available inventory and alert forest managers when new tags need to be added to the stump and felled trees. This allows for a transparent process throughout the whole supply chain to ensure sustainable forestry practices are being used. It also helps to develop a forest map and start to make predictions about yield and growth potential from various species of trees in a particular area.
Some forest managers have gone as far as to use the barcode printers and barcode tags to track the DNA of the tropical timbre in these areas in order to study and track where wood has originated from down to the exact spot in the forest. Without barcode software, such in-depth data would not be possible. Yet, despite the barcode technology, there are still those that will try to cut down these hardwood trees and illegally transport them for a profit. However, this technology does seem to be slowing down illegal activity, which can go a long way to preserving our natural resources. Those within the retail industry can then be rest assured that they are selling furniture or wood products that have been verified as sustainable. This barcode system can become a great best practice for forestry management all over the world to benchmark and adopt.
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree
This barcode printer, barcode reader / verifier, and label applicator process also has application for other industries, including the Christmas tree industry. For example, barcode technology can be used to tag, identify, and track each Christmas tree that is sold, which helps those within this business manage what they sell and what they keep on-hand during the season. The barcode printer can create identification tags and clear information labels that can last throughout harsh environmental periods, including inclement weather, while holding their integrity and readability. This is just another way that barcode technology is helping the forestry industry maintain available supply of a very valuable natural resource.
