Vardeberget Old-Growth Forest, Engerdal, Hedmark Photo: Olli Manninen

Hedmark county is the region in Norway with the highest percentage of forest cover. It’s a county with big differences – the southern part of the county is almost totally transformed into young plantation forest, whereas you can still find areas with old-growth forests in the northern parts which are more mountainous.

The communes of Stor-Elvdal, Engerdal and Rendalen play a key role when it comes to the preservation of biodiversity of certain old-growth species in Norway. For instance are the old-growth pine forest in Engerdal and adjacent communes Idre and Särna in Sweden, the most important core-area for pine dependent old-growth species in southern Scandinavia.

The forests are in general owned by private persons. The company Borregaard owns quite large forests in Trysil and Rendalen communes, and in Engerdal the state thru its forest company Statskog, owns 80% of the forest area.

The protection situation is as other places in Norway very poor, and several very valuable old-growth forest are unprotected both on private and state land. During the last years, most of the state owned forests are surveyed and the remaining old-growth forests are well documented and a protection process is likely to be started for this forests the coming years.

Old-growth forests in Stor-Elvdal municipality. Photo: Olli Manninen

For the private owned forests, the situation is much more uncertain, since there have not been any overall official surveys of remaining old-growth forests. For private owned forests the only way the governments deals to protect them, is if the forest owners voluntary wish to protected them (frivillig vern), leaving the faith and their protection 100% in the hands of the forest owners.

Thanks to the last two years of surveys initiated by the Friends of the Earth Norway and certain official surveys, the knowledge is quite good about the remaining old-growth forests in Hedmark, and many valuable old-growth forests are well documented.

The county is located in south-eastern Norway bordering Sweden in east, Sør-Trøndelag County in north, Oppland County in west and Østfold County in south.

More than 90 per cent of Swedish forests are, or have been, in commercial use and are affected by systematic forest management. Old, natural forests are and have been clear-cut and replaced by plantations and industrial forests that have low biodiversity values. Only a few per cent of the productive forests below the mountain region (sub-alpine forests) are old-growth forests with high conservation values.

Although, Sweden holds a considerable proportion of the remaining old-growth forests of Europe. Over 1 800 animal and plant species in the Swedish forests are red-listed and many of them are dependent on old trees, dead wood and deciduous trees to survive. In order to reverse the ongoing biodiversity degradation, between 10 and 20 per cent of the total productive forest land below the mountain region need to be protected. There is a consensus among Sweden’s leading biological scientists that the Swedish forest politics is threatening the biological diversity in the forest.

In 2007 only about 3.3 per cent of the Swedish productive forests were formally protected from logging as national parks, nature reserves, habitat protection areas and by nature conservation agreements. Less than 2 per cent of the Swedish forests below the mountain region were formally protected.

Environmentally certified logging of High Conservation Value Forest in mid-east Sweden. Photo: John Lööf Green

One of the Swedish environmental quality objectives, “Sustainable forests”, states that the value of forests and forest land for biological production must be protected and biological diversity safeguarded, by year 2010. A recent review of the national environmental quality objectives concluded that this quality objective will not be achieved by either 2010 or 2020.

In order to live up to national and international obligations, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, Sweden has a legal responsibility to protect the biological diversity and to ensure that forestry operations are carried out in a sustainable fashion.

There are more unprotected High Conservation Value Forests in Sweden which will show up in later updates of the NordicForests.org Map. Download the NordicForests.org Map for Google Earth here .

2008 was the year when SCA, after many years of criticism from the NGOs in Sweden, was close to loose its FSC-certificate. The company received in the last revision (2007-11-02) a major CAR, the most serious Corrective Action Request a company can get before the FSC-certificate is suspended. The reason for this was SCA’s logging of High Conservation Value Forests and serious lack of consideration for biological values in the clear-cut landscape.

The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation has with a great interest been following SCA’s attempts to improve the sustainability of their forestry. Members of the SSNC has also made field inventories in forests that have been logged or notified for logging. There is proof in the inventories that has been made in the counties of Västernorrland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten that the company still can’t reach the demands that the certifier made in its report of 2007.

With 2.6 million hectares, SCA is Europe’s largest private forest owner. SCA sells personal care products, tissue, packaging, publication papers and solid-wood products in more than 90 countries. SCA has 52,000 employees in some 60 countries and annual sales in 2008 amounted to EUR 11.5bn (11.4). The biggest owner is Industrivärden which is controlled by Lundberföretagen which is controlled by Fredrik Lundberg who has a 67% stake in the company.

List of SCA-brands

(This is a rewrite from the SSNC-report ”Breakdown for the nature conservation in the forest (of Sweden)”)

A gallery of recent High Conservation Value Forests that have been logged by SCA (subtitles in swedish):

– international wood and paper customers deceived

New organization confronts old-growth forest destruction

Sweden, which will take over the EU Presidency in July 2009, has a considerable proportion of Europe’s remaining old-growth forests. However, many of these forests are being ravaged. The Swedish government has reduced its budget for forest protection and proposes to increase forest production. At the same time, forest companies such as SCA and Stora Enso, log unprotected old-growth forests under the cover of environmental certification FSC1. Customer countries buying Swedish wood and paper products are being deceived.

Because of the critical situation, a new Swedish forest conservation organization, Protect the Forest, has recently been established to reverse the situation and to push the alarm button.

“We urge everyone concerned and customers in countries that import forest products from Sweden to put pressure on the Swedish government and forestry sector,” says Viktor Säfve, chairperson of Protect the Forest. “We immediately need to stop the destruction of Europe’s last old-growth forests and to do this we need to cooperate internationally.”
Forestry has transformed most of Sweden’s forests into plantations and young forests. More than 1,800 animal and plant species are endangered or near-threatened. Only around 1.5 per cent of Swedish productive forests, below the mountain region, are formally protected from logging. There is consensus among Sweden’s leading scientists that the current Swedish forestry policy is a serious threat to biological diversity.2

“Sweden is committed to international conventions to safeguard its biological diversity,” says Amanda Tas, secretary of Protect the Forest. “Yet, the government ignores scientific facts and turns a blind eye to the devastation of forests with a high conservation value.”
A large proportion of all wood logged in Sweden is exported as raw material, paper, pulp and other products to countries such as the UK, Germany and USA.3 Customers in these countries are given false guarantees by the Forest Stewardship Council, FSC, and the Swedish forest industry that these products are produced in a sustainable way.

For more information, please contact:

Amanda Tas, Secretary of Protect the Forest,

+46 76 76 13 533, Amanda.tas@skyddaskogen.se

Viktor Säfve, Chairperson of Protect the Forest,

viktor.safve@skyddaskogen.se

Notes

1. The Forest Stewardship Council, FSC, is an international organization that certifies forestry and wood products, such as paper and furniture. The FSC label should guarantee that the forest companies’ timber and other products derive from forestry of high environmental standards. For more information, read the Greenpeace report “Under the Cover of Forest Certification”:

http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/sweden/rapporter-och-dokument/under-the-cover-of-forest-cert.pdf

2. Debate article “Forest policy threatens biological diversity” in Swedish tabloid (Dagens Nyheter, 2008) written by 14 leading nature conservation scientists:
http://protecttheforest.se/en/skogen-i-media/40-vad-saeger-forskarna/432-dn-skogspolitiken-hotar-biologiska-mangfalden (free translation of the debate article)

3. Examples of Swedish FSC-certified forest companies:
SCA is a global company that produces personal care products (TENA, Libero, Libresse, Nana), tissue (Tork, Tempo, Zewa, Edet), packaging and solid wood products in more than 90 countries. SCA’s eight largest markets are (in order): Germany, UK, France, USA, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands and Spain. In Sweden, SCA is notorious for its systematic loggings of high conservation value forests.

Stora Enso is one of the world’s biggest producer of paper and cardboard. Its products are mainly produced in Europe (including Russia), China and Latin America. Stora Enso has monoculture plantations in Brasil and China, which have caused environmental problems and conflicts between social groups and the company. Example of important consumer brands are MultiCopy (office paper) and Effex (wood paneling). In Sweden, Stora Enso logs old-growth forests and has ended up in social conflicts when logging forests that are socially valuable for the local population.

Bergvik is Sweden’s second-largest forest owner in terms of annual felling volume. In 2004 Bergvik acquired all of Stora Enso’s former holdings in Sweden. Bergvik manages forests and sell felling rights to Stora Enso.

Norrmyrberget, Jokkmokk, Norrbotten County. Old-growth forest logged by SCA in 2008. Photo: Olli Manninen

Destructed Old-Growth forest in Åbojen, Jokkmokk. Photo: Daniel Rutschman

Swedish Society for Nature Conservation reports about a breakdown in the forest protection of Sweden. Large and very valuable areas with forests in Sweden are totally unprotected and many are critically endangered by logging.

Read the report here

This is the result of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation’s big forest inventory 2008. 150 forests with threatened species were found and almost 6000 discoveries of red-listed species were made by the SSNC.

Some of the forests have already been logged and several are notified for logging to the Swedish Forest Agency. This is proof that the work on nature conservation within the big forest companies of Sweden has failed. Forest companies SCA, Bergvik, Sveaskog and the National Property Board of Sweden all have forests that should be protected for the future immediately as they contain lots of red-listed species. It’s also clear that the reduced government funding for nature conservation isn’t enough.

Mikael Karlsson, chairman of the SSNC, said “We are facing a breakdown for nature conservation in our Swedish forests in the year that nature conservation celebrates a century in Sweden. The funds for the protection of forests have run out at the county boards. This is a threat to all High Conservation Value Forests in Sweden in the future. The government funding must increase in Sweden.”

The material which members of the SSNC have gathered on a voluntary basis in Dalecarlia, Jämtland, Västernorrland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten is now stored as red-listed species lists, images and GPS-coordinates. The information also exists in The Swedish Species Information Centre’s web-service the Species Gateway (Artportalen.se) where it is accessible for the general public.

A report that was published by the SSNC earlier this year describes in detail 18 unprotected High Conservation Value Forests of which many are going to be logged.

Mikael Karlsson said “This is a warning signal that the SSNC gives the Swedish government and authorites for free. I assume that they will act now and that the forest industry will change their minds immediately and stop the logging of these valuable forests. There are obvious problems in the nature conservation practices of the industry which should prevent High Conservation Value Forests being logged. Today a mere 1.5% of the forests in Sweden are formally protected below the sub-alpine zone.”

The report also concludes that large-scale state inventories has been made and they show large areas of High Conservation Value Forests which are not protected yet. This information should be used and put into practice as soon as possible. There’s also a need to fund more inventories in poorly mapped out regions of Sweden.

Mikael Karlsson said, “When it comes to state-owned land we think that the Government should take advantage of the occasion and protect the High Conservation Value Forests of the National Property Board of Sweden without giving them any compensation. When the reduced funding for nature conservation is used to protect state-owned forests the funds are just roaming around within the administration of the state. It would be better to use these finite funds to compensate private land-owners who make good efforts to increase the biological values of the forest.”

A large amount of Sallows has been harmed by SCA during a logging in Övre Storforsen in Piteå municipality even though they are considered trees with high conservation values.

In the county of Norrbotten the forest cover amounts to 42%. There are 3.3 milions of hectares of productive forest land below the border for sub-alpine forest. A mere 1.8% of the productive forest land below this border is protected by Swedish law. Unprotected High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF) exists and should be protected as soon as possible in order to guarantee a sustaineble biological diversity in the forests of Norrbotten.

Clear-cut areas and forest land less than 21 years old amounts to 19% of the productive forest land in the county of Norrbotten. The total dominance of clear-cutting as forestry-method has resulted in many red-listed species. A forest in Norrbotten is 100-150 years in general when it’s logged. That’s not an impressive age as a normal spruce can become 400 years old in an Old-Growth Forest and a pine 800 years. In addition more species settle down the longer the forest has existed.

The biggest forest owners are Sveaskog (35%), SCA (11%) and The National Property Board (of Sweden) (6%).

Norrbotten in the middle of the map. Download the NordicForests.org Map for Google Earth here .

TRANSLATION OF THE OPEN LETTER

Open letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, 7. February 2007

To: Juha Korkeaoja Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Hallituskatu 3 A, Helsinki P.O. Box 30, 00023 Valtioneuvosto Finland

Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Juha Korkeaoja,

We wish to present Finnish researchers’ concerns about loggings in old natural forests and publicise our opinion as to why preservation of these forests is in our estimation indispensable.

Alongside climate change, the rapid loss of biodiversity is one of the most serious trends humankind is facing. These two threats go hand in hand. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005, www.maweb.org), which was carried out by more than one thousand researchers, shows that the loss of biodiversity and the related decline of ecosystem functions, especially the loss of natural forests, continues all over the world. Natural forests are scarce in Europe, hence their biological, social and cultural value is especially significant and will grow in future. Of species classified as threatened in Finland, 37% have forest as their primary habitat.

Biodiversity in our forests is especially threatened in southern Finland, where natural or near-natural forests remain in only 1-2% of the forest area. In southern Finland the survival of species communities dependent on natural forests is in danger, and populations of many species have declined to regional extinction. Finland is committed to maintaining large natural areas and to stop the decline of biodiversity by 2010 e.g. through our signing the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, The EU strategy for sustainable development (2001) and IUCN’s Countdown 2010 initiative. This goal can no longer be achieved, but to stop the decline of biodiversity as quickly as possible it will be necessary to supplement the nature reserve network in southern Finland with sites that have remained in as biologically a natural state as possible.

Northern Finland’s natural forests have exceptionally great importance for biodiversity because they are large and continuous. These features make the long-term survival of species possible as well as the functioning of natural disturbance dynamics and evolutionary processes. Habitat changes via climate change will emphasise further the value of northern forests. Both the level of protection and the area of remaining old natural forests is considerably higher in the North than in southern Finland, but current trends are alarming. According to the Finnish Forest Research Institute, the area of near-natural forest (stands over 140 years old, containing elements typical of natural forests) in the northern boreal zone has decreased from 17 % to 14.5% between the two most recent state land inventories. This means that 1000 km2 of these forests were lost in a decade. It is also noteworthy that the proportion of protected near-natural forest is less than 7% of the forested area in the northern boreal zone, even if more than 10% of northern Finland’s forests in total (forest and non-productive forest land together) is protected (ref: Etelä-Suomen metsien monimuotoisuusohjelman tutkimusraportti, MMM ym. 2006).

The natural development of Lapland’s forest ecosystems is so slow that logging in its remaining old natural forests cannot be considered a sustainable use of natural resources. Development of an old forest with large amounts of decaying wood of different types takes such a long time that social, economic and global environmental conditions will probably change completely in this time. Hence it can be reasonably stated that logging of natural forests causes irreversible change of habitat, and destroys an important part of our national heritage as well as genetic and species diversity. As a result, present and intended loggings in forested Lapland (e.g. Pokka-Pulju and Raakevuoma in Kittilä, Peurakaira in Sodankylä and Turjalaiset in Savukoski) are unsustainable and in obvious conflict with the biological diversity conservation agreements to which Finland is committed.

Although saving forestry-related jobs is extremely important from a rural and social perspective, it should not be used as an excuse to destroy ecosystems whose undisturbed development spans thousands of years. It is important to take into account that northern Finland contains a considerable area of younger commercial stands that have regrown since their heavy logging of the 1950s. Carrying out thinning and other forestry measures in these forests, now in an accelerated period of growth, would generate employment, speed the forests’ growth, and improve the quality of the resulting timber.

The annual increment of timber growth within the Lapland forest administration region has in the last decade increased from 8 million cubic metres per annum to 12 million. The corresponding timber reserve has increased from 260 million cubic metres of the beginning of the 1970s to 340 million. Forestry or logging opportunities in Lapland are therefore in no way threatened. Sustainable commercial forestry in northern Finland should be based on forests already applied to commercial use, not on logging those remaining in a natural state.

Metsähallitus (The Finnish National Forest Service) is also taking a considerable risk in extending logging to higher altitudes and shelterwoods that earlier were left outside commercial use. These areas contain much old forest in a natural state. Initiation of logging at high-altitude sites is based on a crude and scientifically uncertain generalisation that climatic warming will create conditions more favourable to these forests’ regeneration. Such assumptions take no account of the precautionary principle that should be an integral part of all Environmental Impact Assessments. Even if a growth in the average temperature may add to timber growth in the next decades, the accompanying increase in aberrant weather may cause severe forest regeneration problems.

Commercial forestry practiced in old natural forests causes significant and long term problems to other forms of commercial use such as traditional reindeer herding, hunting, and tourism. Indigenous peoples’ cultures are the focus of increasing international attention. Safeguarding and improving reindeer herding conditions are a key element in preserving the culture of Finland’s own indigenous people, the Sámi.

Reindeer husbandry and forestry cannot be compared by evaluating the immediate commercial value they generate, because the former also brings significant knock-on effects not only to the Sámi culture, but also to the Lapp tourist industry and Finland’s international image.

The attraction and economic significance of the North’s untouched forest environments can be assumed to further increase in the future. Already there is a contradiction between logging of old forest of near-natural conditions and tourism. In the Lapp municipality of Ylimuonio negotiations are ongoing between Metsähallitus and local tour operators, where the latter are offering to pay Metsähallitus the price of lost timber if they forgo logging. If the local businesses’ willingness to pay is greater than the net price Metsähallitus can expect to receive for this timber, in any corresponding case it is always in society’s interest to forgo such logging independent of whether the payment is actually made or not. That Metsähallitus is considering logging in such circumstances demonstrates that decision-making principles concerning logging and the use of forest are not set out to reflect the best interests of society in the long term.

In a global context the need to preserve what little remains of the EU’s undisturbed landscapes should need no discussion.

Compared to Developing Countries striving to protect rainforests alongside severe poverty, Finland stands to pay relatively little for protecting what remains of her old natural forests – and in the longer term protection will turn to economic benefit. The EU Commission last October gave 70 million Euros’ worth of support to projects related to habitat restoration. The cost-benefit ratio of conserving Lapland’s natural forests is many orders of magnitude better than this. It should also be noted that preservation of large natural forest areas within the EU remains possible only in northern Fennoscandia.

Esteemed Minister for Agriculture and Forestry: based on the above we appeal to you that the Finnish State and its own subsidiary Metsähallitus cease the initiated loggings in old natural forests of demonstrated values. Logging targets in Lapp state forests should be re-evaluated at the political level to take account of old natural forests’ long term ecological and socio-economic importance, the local municipalities’ other livelihoods, as well as Finland’s responsibilities both morally and through international treaties we have signed.

We respectfully request you answer this open letter using public fora.

Signed by (in alphabetical order)

Bäck Jaana, docent
Eronen Jarmo, professor
Haila Yrjö, professor
Hakkarainen Harri, docent
Hanski Ilkka, academy professor
Hanski Ilpo K., docent
Heikkilä Raimo, research director
Hiedanpää Juha, researcher
Hukkinen Janne, professor
Hyytiäinen Kari, senior researcher
Jakovlev Jevgeni, researcher
Jokinen Mikko, researcher
Juutinen Artti, academy researcher
Kaitala Veijo, professor
Kalliola Risto, professor
Keto-Tokoi Petri, lector
Kokko Hanna, professor
Komonen Atte, researcher
Korhonen Kaisa, coordinator
Korpimäki Erkki, professor
Kotiaho Janne S., academy researcher
Kotiranta Heikki, special researcher
Kouki Jari, professor
Kumpula Anne, professor
Kuuluvainen Jari, professor
Kuuluvainen Timo, docent
Kyllönen Simo, researcher
Laakso Marjukka, researcher
Laaksonen Toni, researcher
Latva-Karjanmaa Tarja, researcher
Lehtinen Ari, professor
Lilja Saara, planning researcher
Lindholm Tapio, head specialist
Loukola Olli, professor
Lähde Erkki, professor emeritus
Martikainen Petri, docent
Merilä Juha, academy professor
Mäkipää Raisa, senior researcher
Mönkkönen Mikko, professor
Niemelä Jari, professor
Ollikainen Markku, professor
Orell Markku, professor
Ovaskainen Otso, academy researcher
Pennanen Juho, researcher
Pennanen Jukka, professor
Penttilä Reijo, senior researcher
Perämäki Martti, university lector
Puuronen Vesa, dosentti
Pykälä Juha, senior researcher
Rannikko Pertti, professor
Ranta Esa, professor
Renvall Pertti, docent
Ruohomäki Kai, docent
Ruuhijärvi Rauno, professor emeritus
Rytteri Teijo, researcher
Saarinen Jarkko, professor
Sajama Seppo, professor
Sarvala Jouko, professor
Selonen Vesa, researcher
Siiskonen Harri, professor
Simola Heikki, docent
Sippola Anna-Liisa, special researcher
Snellman Hanna, academy researcher
Sundström Liselotte, professor
Suvanto Leena, researcher
Suvantola Leila, researcher
Tahvonen Olli, professor
Tikka Päivi, researcher
Tikkanen Olli-Pekka, researcher
Toivonen Heikki, professor
Tukia Harri, senior researcher
Wallenius Tuomo, researcher
Vanha-Majamaa Ilkka, researcher
Varkonyi Gergely, special researcher
Virkkala Raimo, docent
Väre Henry, senior curator
Zetterberg Pentti, researcher

Translated by mr. Marcus Walsh, BirdLife

——————————-
The original letter in Finnish: tutkijakirje.org.
And on the webpages of The University of Helsinki: helsinki.fi.
This can also be found on the Finnish website: forestinfo.fi.

Read the report

”Finland’s forests are among the most intensively managed in the world. Over 50 million cubic metres of wood are harvested every year from the country’s 20 million hectares of commercial forests. The Finnish forest management model has resulted in the rapid conversion of natural forests into monotonous industrial forests that lack many key features of boreal forest ecosystems. Forestry is the most serious threat to species survival in Finland. Unless there is a  significant increase in the amount of protected forest area and a parallel improvement in the standards of forest management, hundreds of species face extinction within  the next 50 years. 

Sustainable development and protection of biodiversity are now popular phrases in the public communications of the Finnish forestry sector. But there remains a huge gap between rhetoric and reality. Forest certification could be an effective way to improve the ecological and social sustainability of forest use. However, 95% of Finland’s forests have been certified according to the inadequate Finnish Forest Certification System standard,  with the result that there has been little change to the destructive practices that have caused the current degradation of forest biodiversity. 

With this report, the undersigned Finnish environmental organisations want to emphasise the urgent need for better forest management and better protection for  the remaining old-growth and high-conservation-value forests in Finland.”

From the foreword to the report