Olli Heikinheimo , Eino Saari

Forestry in Finland

Heikinheimo O., Saari E. (1922). Forestry in Finland. Acta Forestalia Fennica vol. 19 no. 2 article id 7059. https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7059

Abstract

About 60%, 20.5 million hectares, of Finland is covered by forests. Of this area 10.5 million hectares are peatlands. The forests are divided in fertile forest land (17 million hectares), forest land of low productivity (3.5 million hectares) and nonproductive lands (about 10 million hectares). Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is the dominant species in 60%, Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) in 23%, and Betula sp. 17% of the forests. The younger age classes are poorly represented, but despite the abundance of older age classes, the growing stock and productivity of the forests are not very high. The reason is low density of the forests, unfavorable tree species composition and the condition of the forests. Timber is used as household timber in towns and in rural areas (16.5 million m³), in traffic (1.3 million m³), fuelwood in industry (3 million m³), raw material in wood industry (9.1 million m3) and export (4 million m³). State owns 36.9% of forest lands, companies and associations 8.1% and other private forest owners 53.5%. The article describes the administration of state and private forests, and forest education in Finland. There was about 600 sawmills, 25 mechanical pulpwood mills, 24 pulp mills and 31 paper mills in the country in 1920.

Keywords
forest management; forest industry; forest resources

Published in 1922

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