The Finnish government has been demanding for a few years now that the state forestry company Metsähallitus manage at least 25 percent of the forests clear-cut, that is to say that you only pick a few fully grown trees and leave the rest.


- The result is perfect.

The requirement of 25% clear-cut forestry is not that difficult to achieve.

I'm pretty sure it could also work for Sveaskog in Sweden, says Kalle Eerikäinen, head of planning at Metsähallitus.

In Sweden, clear-cut farming is completely dominant.

Sweden's largest forest owner, state-owned Sveaskog, uses logging-free methods on less than half a percent of its forests.

In the video, different methods for logging-free forestry are shown.


- If Sveaskog wants to increase profits, they should devote themselves less to clear-cutting and planting, according to Timo Pukkala, who is professor emeritus in forest planning and one of Finland's foremost researchers on clear-cutting forestry.

Finnish and Swedish forests are the same

On behalf of SVT, Timo Pukkala has calculated the effect if Swedish Sveaskog were to switch completely to logging-free forestry on state lands.

Calculations with data from almost 400 randomly selected sample areas in Northern and Central Sweden corresponding to Sveaskog's forests have been used.

They show that compared to traditional clear-cutting farming, clear-cutting produces 35 percent more blueberry rice in the first 30 years, the clear-cutting forest is perceived as 22 percent more beautiful, it binds 18 percent more carbon dioxide in the first 30 years, it produces 11 percent more timber, is 10 percent more economically profitable for the forest owner and provides 9 percent more mixed forest that favors biological diversity.


- Swedish forests and Finnish forests are very similar, so if it works in Finland, it would of course also work in Sweden, according to Timo Pukkala.

Hyggefree benefits many endangered species

According to a report from the scientific expert body Finland's Nature Panel, which compiled 300 studies on clear-cutting, many endangered species would benefit if clearcutting were stopped.


- We are already felling the forest so hard that several species are threatened with extinction in Finland.

It is bad and must end, otherwise we will lose all of our nature, we must stop, says Professor Janne Kotiaho, who chairs the Finnish Nature Panel.

Sveaskog sees risks with hyggesfreet

Sveaskog believes that there are risks involved in quickly switching to clear-cutting, but the CEO still sees no major problems if the Swedish government were to demand that 25 percent of the company's forests be managed without clear-cutting, as is the case with Finland's state-owned forest giant.


- If that goal is reached, we will implement it, no problem.

I think that as the situation is right now with the framework that we have and with the financial requirements that we have, it will work as well, believes Sveaskog's CEO Erik Brandsma.

See more in the World of Science - The battle for the forest continues in SVTplay 23/10 and SVT2 24/10 at 20.00.