About 38% of the surface area in Norway is covered by forest. The total forested area amounts to 12 million hectares, including more than 7 million hectares of productive forest. 15% of the productive forest has been estimated as non-economic operational areas due to difficult terrain and long distance transport, which means that economical forestry may only be operated in about 50% of the forested area. The most important species are Norway spruce (47%), Scots pine (33%) and birch (18%).
Figure 1: Standing volume 1933-2006, 1000 000 m3
If measured in standing volume, there is twice as much forest today than hundred years ago. Standing volume of forest is about 740 million m3, compared with 300 million m3 when the first national forest survey was carried out in 1919. The tremendous increase is a result of a forest policy with the main objective of restoring the forest resources.
The annual increment of Norwegian forests is approximately 25 million m3. The total annual harvest is less than 50% of this growth, about 10 million m3, which means that the amount of wood in Norwegian forests increases significantly every year.
Figure 2: Annual increment and roundwood cut for sale, 1000 m3
The amount of carbon stored in Norway’s forests is approximately 300 million tonnes in trees, soil not included.
1.4% of the productive forest area in Norway is protected.
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From the forest area:
Privately owned forests 80 %
State and municipalities 12 %
Industrial private 4 %
Local common land 4 %
Figure 3: Forest land by ownership, % of the area
There is a total of 120.000 forest holdings in Norway with more than 2.5 hectares of forest land. The average size of a forest holding is about 50 hectares. Small forest properties, the steep and varying terrain conditions and the varying production possibilities have created great variations within the forest landscape.
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The family forestry in Norway is being managed and operated through typical small-scale forestry operations. The variety of small-scale forestry creates good conditions for environmental biodiversity. The average sized felling area is 1.4 hectar.
Forest owners often combine their forest work with other farming activities. About 15% of the forest owners/family members are actively engaged in their forest through felling and/or transport operations, the rest is done by contractors. A larger percentage though carries out reforestation and silvicultural work on their own property.
Profitability of family forestry
The total harvest in Norway in 2008 was about 8.2 million m3. Of this approximately 90% came from private forests. The value of these roundwood sales was 3.000 million NOK (333 million €).
Figure 4: Wood consumption 2007
Family forest owners objectives / values
With few exceptions, all farm and forest holdings are kept within the family. According to the Act of Allodial Rights the firstborn child has the first option to the holding. Most farms are inherited through generations establishing a feeling of responsibility and long-term considerations of keeping the value of the farm. This attitude is of great importance for forestry management where the results of measures that are implemented today are seen after several decades in the future. On average, the rotation between planting and final harvest is between 70-100 years.
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Norges Skogeierforbund (The Norwegian Forest Owners’ Fedration) is the biggest and the main forest owner organisation in Norway. There are 8 co-operatives with approximately 40.000 private forest owners as co-owners. The co-operatives main tasks are to negotiate timber prices, buy roundwood from the co-owners and sell it to the industry and to assist on forest and wildlife management.
The central office takes care of the national and of the international forestry policy, assists the district co-operatives on county matters and provides them with market information. The central office also publish a monthly magazine – ”The Forest Owner” – and runs its own website – www.skog.no.
NORSKOG is organising about 230 of the biggest forest owners in Norway, harvesting approximately 1 million m3 of wood annually
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All productive forests in Norway are certified, i.e. 7.397.000 hectares. The number of certified forest owners is approximately 43.000 (private, municipalities, state).
A national set of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management was developed in Norway in 1998 (The Living Forests Project). The forest owners and the forest industries took the project initiative back in 1994 and a broad range of stakeholders representing economic, environmental, social and cultural interests contributed to the work.
The ISO 14001 certification system in combination with the national forest performance level standards (The Living Forests Standards) is applied to all commercial forests in Norway. The system is accepted under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and endorsed by the PEFC Council.
Since the ISO 14001 system is accepted so far by the forest industry, there has been low interest among forest owners for developing or adapting to other certification systems.
A lot of efforts have been made to improve the competence of forest owners in the field of sustainable forest management and forest certification. Focus has been on the forest performance level standards and how to implement and apply them. More than 20.000 forest owners have been educated and familiarised with these topics.
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In principle, all Norwegian forest lands are protected from non-forestry development through provisions of the Building and Planning Act and the municipal land use plans. Specific provisions of the Forestry Act provide additional means for placing restrictions on the use of forestlands in deference to environmental concerns, recreational interests and conservation of resources. The Nature Conservation Act provides for the classification of specific areas under various degrees of protection. Forest owners also put forest lands into set-aside schemes thus refraining from utilizing resources.
Figure 5: Areas protected under the Nature Conservation Act 2008
Lands protected under The Forestry Act:
Areas of special environmental or recreational value – areas in which forest operation is subject to severe restrictions. Applied to approximately 170.000 ha.
23.3% of Norway’s forestland is classified as protection forest, i.e. forest land that must be treated with special care due to their location or characteristics.
Lands protected under The Nature Conservation Act account for 1.7% of the productive forest area and include:
National parks – extensive areas free of improvements of a technical nature. Forest operations and most types of commercial or industrial activity are banned.
Landscape protection areas – areas with distinctive landscape features in which any measures or activities which may alter the character of the landscape are banned. Forest operations are normally subject to restrictions.
Nature reserves – distinctive areas totally protected against commercial or industrial activity and interference of any kind.
Nature monuments – sites or small areas protected for their special natural historic value.
Voluntary protection
In 2003 the Norwegian Forest Owners’ Federation started to offer the authorities private forest land for so-called voluntary protection in order to avoid further conflicts caused by the obligatory protection. This was welcomed by the authorities and so far ca. 12.000 hectares of forest are voluntary protected.
Biodiversity
A project ’Environmental registration in forests’ (Miljøregistrering i skog, MiS) - funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food - is Norway’s forest sector’s response to conservation of environmental values in forests. The main targets of the MiS are to improve knowledge about forest’s environmental values such as biological diversity and cultural heritage and to develop registration and monitoring systems for these areas.
Environmental values related to biological diversity are in main focus in the project. In 2000 a registration tool was established. The tool was revised in 2001 and 2002. It gives information to forest owners about valuable areas which should be taken into account. A map database with information on important biological areas and environmental values is updated regularly with information from various districts.
In 2006 forestry and the forest industries accounted for about 0.8% of the Gross National Product in Norway. Of the total employment of 2.443.000 persons in Norway approximately 40.000 people receive their income from forestry and from the forest industry. 6.700 persons (0.3%) are directly employed in forestry.
Figure 6: Forestry and forest industry as part of the GNP 1979-2006
The forest activities provide about 8 million cubic meters of wood annually for the forest industry. An increasing part of the felling and transport of timber is taken care of by contractors. However, 15% of the forest owners are still working in their own forest with felling and/or transport during the winter season. The total work contribution in primary forestry is estimated to 5.000 man-years.
Value of wood and non-wood products (2007)
Products:
Value, million NOK
Value, million €
Timber sales
3079
350
Firewood
311
35
Hunting
463
52
Christmas trees/ Cut greens
179
20
Figure 7: Forest products delivered during 2007
There is a year-round access for the general public to non-cultivated land in Norway. Free access is an ancient public right and has since 1957 been stated by law. Motorised recreational activities are generally prohibited off road.
A lot of people use the forest for recreational activities, both traditional and modern. The public has a right to walk anywhere in the forests, berries and mushrooms may be picked and dry wood may be collected for campfires during the period mid-September to mid-April. There is a widely distributed web of marked walking-paths as well as prepared tracks for cross-country skiing to be used free of charge. Hunting and fishing are important activities for a large number of people. Hunting and fishing rights are the property of the landowners. Fishing licenses are available, to some extent also hunting licenses.
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Norwegian policies dealing with the conservation and sustainable utilization of forest resources are based on fundamental principles of maintaining the long-term stability and resilience of the resource base. The goal of Norwegian forest management policies is to meet social, economic, ecological and cultural needs for present and future generations. Norway has ratified the Rio Convention on biological diversity and the climate and signed resolutions on sustainable management of Europe’s forests. The principles expressed in these documents are also incorporated into Norwegian forest policy.
The public forest administration in Norway is divided into three levels:
At national level the Ministry of Agriculture and Food has authority over forestry
At county level the authority over forest matters is delegated to the county governor
At municipal level each municipality serves as the authority in forest matters
Forestry authorities’ tasks include:
Supervising that the Forest Act and other relevant acts are followed
Administering the public subsidy arrangements
Guidance for the forest owners
Participating in the planning process, particularly as regards land management
Administering the forestry preservation duty arrangements
Forest legislation
The Forestry Act
The Forestry Act was updated in 2005. The purpose of the act is to promote sustainable management of forest resources in Norway with a view to promote local and national economic development. Furthermore, it aims to secure biological diversity, take into account landscape considerations, outdoor recreation and the cultural values associated with the forest.
The Act shall apply to all forests and forest land. ”Forest land” means land which is under forest production or which, according to an overall assessment, is most suitable for forest production and is not being used for any other purpose. The Act shall apply also if an area is protected pursuant to the Nature Conservation Act or, in plans pursuant to the Planning and Building Act, is designed for other purposes than agriculture, unless otherwise provided by protection or planning decisions or by regulations associated with such decisions.
Forest owner shall ensure that all activities in forests are carried out in compliance with statutes and regulations. Forest owner shall have an overall view of the environmental values in his own forest and pay regard to them when carrying out all activities in the forest. Such considerations may prevent the implementation of some activities in the forest. Within these frameworks, forest owner is free to manage the forest in relation to his own objectives (freedom under responsibility).
The Forest Trust Fund
The Forest Trust Fund is an obligatory reserve, the intention of which is to provide forest owner with a sounder basis for financing measures aimed at sustainable management of forest resources. Forest owner shall allocate funds to the Forest Trust Fund on sale, expropriation or other transfer of felled, extracted or standing trees as well as on the forest owner’s use of timber for further sale or other transfer.
The Forest Trust Fund shall be used for long-term investments to the advantage of the forest from which the timber is supplied including primarily silviculture, forest management planning, forest production, forest roads and measures aimed at securing important environmental values in the forest.
Forest owners are not entitled to an interest on deposits in The Forest Trust Fund.
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