The parliamentary elections are a few weeks away, and there are strong demands in the air to reduce the use of domestic wood. Some parties have proposed strict sink targets for individual years and restrictions on logging or a fee for wood use depending on the carbon stock of the final product. None of the proponents of restrictions highlight the effects of the measures on the global climate, forest industry production, regional economy, employment or export revenues. Those who speak about them are easily labeled as anti-environmental euro-staring.
It is clear that sink changes need to be examined more carefully. The decrease in sinks in 2021 was mainly due to three factors: reduced forest growth, higher logging compared to 2020, and a change in the calculation method for drained peatlands.
According to the latest national forest inventory, forest growth is 103,5 million m3, which is 4,5 million m3 lower than the previous inventory. In northern Finland, aging pine forests have moved into the slower growth category. With this age structure, forest growth may continue to decline in the coming years, which does not bode well. In addition, nature intervened, meaning that there were three weak growing seasons in 2018–2020: drought affected the south, and in the north, pine used its resources for cone production. Growth also decreased in Sweden and Norway around the same time. The drought during the growing season was also a major factor in neighboring countries.
The third significant factor was a change in the calculation method, which led to an increase in emissions from drained peatlands of forest land by almost 5 Mt CO2These calculation changes must also be prepared for in the future, as measurement methods develop and increasingly accurate information is obtained, for example on soil emissions. The calculation changes do not, of course, affect what happens in nature, but the effects on sink numbers can be significant.
As the economy recovered after the corona year, logging increased by 2021 percent in 11 to 76 million m3:to. No one knows the amount of logging in the coming years. The needs of wood processing depend on global markets. The need for energy wood, in turn, depends on the coldness of the winters and how quickly solutions that replace wood burning, such as geothermal heat, air-source heat pumps and the utilization of waste heat, progress.
However, I dare say that instead of restricting the use of wood, we should now focus on the long-term vitality and growth of forests. With good forest management, we have doubled the growth of our forests from the weak state of the 1950s. Increasing growth from the current 103,5 million m3It is not easy, but we must invest in it. According to estimates, we have over 800000 ha of first thinning and 600000 ha of sapling management arrears, and thousands of hectares of peatland are in dire need of ash fertilization.
Management measures do not bring quick gains in growth and sinks, but they secure them in the long term. At the same time, forests must be rapidly regenerated after final felling and using processed seed and seedling material. Processed material enables forests to grow better and adapt to the future climate. So, active and timely forest management is to be commended!
Karoliina Niemi
Forest manager
Finnish Forest Industry Association
