Manual cone harvesting of Pinus pinea in Portugal: equipment used and recommendations

Submitted by alexandrac on 24 April 2020
Iron tips used to detached the cones from the tree (A), toothed hook of the iron ladder (B); module extension of the iron ladder (C)

Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) cone harvesting in Portugal continues to occur trough the traditional way, that is, by specialized workers that climb the trees and remove the cones by hand using special tools.

Here we intend to document photographically this traditional knowledge, present  the various tools used by cone pickers in the harvesting process and the materials used to build them. This information can be potentialy usefull in other coutries were cone harvesting is made by small, locally operating family firms.

Lone Worker Device

Submitted by Gabriel Ducos on 18 December 2019
An example of Lone Worker Device

The risk of accident is real for the resin tapper. The objective here is not to protect the worker against the accident but rather to avoid the aggravation of the consequences of an accident by alerting the emergency services as soon as possible. The Lone Worker Device is a function that can be useful for both resin tappers and forest workers.