Finland: 26 percent of the commercial forests left uncut for more than 30 years

[Martti Kujansuu]

A recent news on the Finnish press is that studies show that 26 percent of the total volume of Finnish commercial forests have been left untouch by man for more than 30 years. What I find interesting is that both the press and the Goverment urge people to take better care of their forest in economical sense by cutting the excess and wrong species of trees from their tree plantations.

Then on the other hand this is great news from our point of view, don't you agree? While 30 years is hardly a beginning for an old-growth forest, Finland and private owners have a chance to change these ex-plantations to semi-protection areas if they decide to do so. Apart from the obvious reasons why commercially cut young forests are not the best choice for bushcrafting, these semi-old forests, for example, offer almost unlimited amount of fuel for campers!

The News in Finnish
Commercial forest & young natural forest

[RonW]

Let's face it; the demand for wood is ever increasing, so there will be more and more logging, because that's what brings in the cash.
And when I look at the brute force that is regularly shown to be used around here, I think the forrests have a hard time recovering. It is all short notice profit....
And I find the lack of real interest and concern from the general public for the forrests shocking. The woodindustry- and huntinglobbies appear to be very strong.

I might be totally wrong, but I feel that because there never was a shortage, people take the forrests for granted.

[Martti Kujansuu]

Let's face it; the demand for wood is ever increasing, so there will be more and more logging, because that's what brings in the cash.

It might be so but there is no high demand of paper. Within a year two major Finnish companies have shut down two of their paper mills in Finland alone as well as few others in Europe. Also, there is no lack of timber if you care to pay a bit higher price than just importing cheap wood from Russia; Finnish forests grow four times in volume what they are cut down each year.

[blacktimberwolf]

I've heard some Finnish ecologists say the vast plantations are catastophic in terms of wildlife...Only one species of tree planted, all the same age, lower branches removed & undergrowth cleared...like any commercial forestry plantatons I suppose, they are grown for the wood & not to enhance the enviroment.

[RonW]

Within a year two major Finnish companies have shut down two of their paper mills in Finland alone as well as few others in Europe. Also, there is no lack of timber if you care to pay a bit higher price than just importing cheap wood from Russia; Finnish forests grow four times in volume what they are cut down each year.

I have a sneaking suspicion those plants weren't just shut down..... They're probably relocated to a country with lower wages and ecological demands.
And although Finnish forrests might grow (and I hope not just in treenumbers, but in real forrest), elsewhere they are seriously in decline, probably just across the border from you, in Russia.
One of the main problems of the world is that the demands and restrictions in western countries, logically, are increasingly higher, because resources are getting lower, but the real problem, overconsumerism, isn't tackled. So demands are simply fulfilled by nations with lower restrictions.

[Martti Kujansuu]

Only one species of tree planted, all the same age, lower branches removed & undergrowth cleared...like any commercial forestry plantatons I suppose, they are grown for the wood & not to enhance the enviroment.

Actually those kind of forests that one can see on the top photograph on my first post are natural to Southern Finland. The type is dominated by few species: Scots Pine, Bilberry and Common Heather. These account around third of the forests in Southern Finland. The problem in earlier times was that these plantations were founded on top of a drained swamp in places were they were not found naturally. What I have learned from a single course on forestry in Finland is that there is not much need to clear the lower branches or the undergrowth as they are naturally cleared by the species themselves through competition.

Even in the most best type of soil there are usually only three tree species: Birch, Pine and Spruce.

I have a sneaking suspicion those plants weren't just shut down..... They're probably relocated to a country with lower wages and ecological demands.

Well, the official reason to close them was to save money on wages by firing around 500 persons. However it is true that the same companies are founding factories to South America at the same time.