The Nordic Family Forestry
A close cooperation between the Nordic forest owners’ national organizations started in 1946, when NSF (Nordiska Skogsägarorganisationernas Förbund) was founded. Since 1995, when Finland and Sweden joined the European Union, the organization has been represented at EU level in Brussels by a joint lobbying office, Bureau of Nordic Family Forestry. The one man representation situated in the middle of the EU-quarters, is working with and through the CEPF (Confederation of European Forest Owners) as the umbrella federation of European Family Forest Owners to represent the interests of Nordic Forest Owners towards EU-institutions, the forest based and related industries and other organizations active in this field.
The purpose of our internet-site is to present the views and activities of our national organizations and the Bureau of Nordic Family Forestry, to site visitors and to give an updated overall picture of Nordic Family Forestry as a whole. We provide you with weekly news updates, position statements and more detailed background information. If you can’t find the information you are looking for, please contact us for further details. Welcome!
In the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – most forests are family owned. In these countries there are about 825 000 private forest holdings. The Nordic forest owners are represented by the following organizations:
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THE NORWEGIAN FOREST OWNERS’ FEDERATION |
THE NORWEGIAN FOREST OWNERS' FEDERATION The Norwegian Forest Owners' Federation is a cooperative organization consisting of 8 district co-operatives and 368 local societies with 44.000 co-owners throughout Norway. The co-operation is an economic organization involved with marketing round wood and other forest products and working for technical progress among its members. The organization is also a considerable shareholder in Norwegian forest industries with the objective of securing a market for its products. The federation publishes a monthly magazine "Skogeieren" (The Forest Owner).
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THE SWEDISH FEDERATION OF FOREST OWNERS |
About 88 000 family forest owners cooperate in five regional associations organized as producers' cooperatives, owned and managed by the members of each association. The central organization is LRF Skogsägarna, The Swedish Federation of Forest Owners, with head office in Stockholm.
MTK's Forestry Council is the forest owners' national policy organisation. It operates through the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). The MTK's Forestry Council looks after private forest owners' interests by providing information on wood markets and prices, influencing forest policy and developing the operation of regional Forest Owners' Unions and local Forest Management Associations.
The 13 regional Forest Owners Unions purpose is to develop private forestry and to look after private forest interest in the region, and to guide the Forest Management Associations operations. The 158 Forest Management Associations assist forest owners in forest management and wood sales, carry out silvicultural and forest improvement work and raise the professional knowledge and skills of forest owners.
The organisation´s own newspaper, Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, comes out three times a week. The newspaper is Finland´s sixth largest newspaper and is read by approximately 350,000 farmers, forest owners and other readers interested in rural affairs.
Organisation of private forest owners (ppt)
 Metsäliitto is one of Europe’s biggest forest industry groups. The Group's turnover amounts yearly to approximately EUR 8,4 million and it employs some 30,000 people. Based in Finland, Metsäliitto Group is active throughout Europe and markets its products worldwide.
The companies that make up Metsäliitto Group specialise in selected wood and fibre based products and services. M-real produces a wide range of paper and packaging solutions; Finnforest focuses on mechanical wood processing and building systems; Botnia manufactures chemical pulp; Metsä Tissue produces quality tissue paper products and baking and cooking papers. The Group also includes companies specialising in biofuels and forest management.
Metsäliitto Group’s parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative. This cooperative organisation for Finnish forest owners has some 130,000 members. Metsäliitto Cooperative and its subsidiary Thomesto Ltd. handle wood procurement for the Group’s mills.
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THE DANISH FOREST ASSOCIATION
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The Danish Forest Association, Dansk Skovforening, is the Danish forestowners' national policy organisation.
The objective for DFA is to promote the political and professional interests of the Danish forest owners - and to promote a forestry with the ability to protect the nature values of Danish forests.
DFA provides, among many other things, information on wood markets and non-woodmarkets, political caretaking on behalf of the forest owners and general information to the public on forests and wood.
DFA publishes the monthly magazine Skoven (The Forest).
DFA owns the international wood trading company DSH-WOOD
Forestry in the Nordic countries
 The Nordic countries form the most densely afforested area in Europe. There are about 62 million hectares of forest in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. This forest area is about the same size as the areas of Spain and Portugal together. More than 50 per cent of the Nordic countries' land area is covered by forests.
There is plenty of space for forests and nature because of the relatively small population number. There are only 24 million inhabitants in the four Nordic countries together. For example, 26 million Belgians and Dutch live in an area of 72 022 square kilometers. That is only 1/16 of the area populated by Danes, Norwegians, Swedes and Finns, i.e. 1 155 000 square kilometers.
Boreal forests dominate
The majority of Nordic forests are located at the boreal coniferous forest zone. The most common tree species are Norway spruce and Scots pine. Denmark’s forests belong to the central European temperate forest zone, where hardwood species such as beech and oak are common.
Forest owners
 Private families own most of the forests in the Nordic countries. Traditionally, the typical forest owner has been a male farmer. However, due to demographic changes nowadays the number of female forest owners is increasing. Many forest owners are city-dwellers; a stock market analyst or taxi driver may be one.
Usually forest owners consider forests to be very important because of the economic security that forestry gives. The main product, wood, is a renewable material and so far the demand for it has been quite stable. In order to safeguard economic sustainability forests are taken good care of.
According to surveys, forests owners also value the recreational possibilities that forests offer. Forests are used for hunting, picking berries and mushrooms and for various sports.
The use of forests
Selling wood is by far the most important source of revenue for forest owners. There are few other possibilities for economic use of forests. Wood is mainly bought by sawmills and companies producing paper and paper products. The biggest costs of forestry are renewal of forest stands and other silviculture, for which forest owners are responsible.
Forestry requires long-term planning, because it takes from 50 up to 120 years before a forest has developed from plants to a mature stand. In family forestry grandfather's decisions affect the grandchildrens' revenues. Quick profits are impossible.
Many forest owners want to leave their property to the next generation in at least as good shape as they inherited it themselves. Forest owners often cut less wood than they could, because they want to save more for their children and grandchildren. Thus the volume of growing stock has been constantly increasing in the Nordic countries despite intensive forest use.
Legislation
In the Nordic countries forest owners can decide individually about the management of their forest, but measures taken must comply with forest legislation. Also the environmental laws affect forestry.
The main objective of Nordic forest legislation is sustainable forest management. One of the most important principles is that forest owners must always ensure forest re-growth after cutting.
Forest protection
 Because forests are an important natural resource for the Nordic countries, forest protection is considered valuable. Parts of forests are excluded from forestry. The size of strictly protected forests, where cutting is not allowed, amounts to 2,3 million hectares in the four countries (EU/COST E 4 research, published in 2000). Up to 75 per cent of all strictly protected forests in Europe are located in the Nordic countries. Protected forests are usually managed by the State.
Several private forest owners have also protected sites that they themselves consider valuable. However, these sites are outside official protection programs and are not included in the statistics.
Forest certification
In order to ensure sustainable forestry many forest owners in the Nordic countries have certified their forests. The aim of forest certification is to guarantee consumers who buy wooden or wood-based products that the raw material comes from well managed forests.
The most common certification systems in the Nordic countries are the national certification schemes, which are approved by the international PEFC-organization. The total area of PECF-certified forests amounts to 35 million hectares in the Nordic countries. This area also includes forests other than family owned. Further details about forest certification can be found for example at www.pefc.org.
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