Södra Timber, one of Sweden’s leading sawmill companies, is part of the Södra Group, a John Lewis-style co-operative of some 50,000 forest owners in the south of Sweden. The average member holds 50ha of forest, which is managed, to varying levels, in partnership with Södra. The idea is to maximise returns on members’ land while ensuring the best practices in sustainable forestry are passed on for future generations.
Mikael Larsson is typical of many of Södra’s members. His home sits in the middle of his 78ha holding, around 66 of which is forested (45% pine, 50% spruce). He took over the running of the farm when his father died in 1993, but the land has been in the family since 1954 when his grandfather first acquired it.
Together with his wife and family, Mr Larsson uses the forest both for recreation and as a source of income. "I’ve had an interest in the forest since I was a small child", he says. "It’s our home, we use it to walk, hunt and fish in, and it’s a good investment too."
His family joined the Södra co-operative in 1981, so it was natural for Mr Larsson to continue the partnership when he took over. As a Södra member, he is free to pick and choose from a variety of services on offer, from complete forest management and the Green Plan, to specific harvesting or thinning services.
"I like the flexibility," he said. "I use Södra’s thinning services when I’m busy, and its total ‘entrepreneur package’ at harvesting time, which means it takes care of the whole felling process and the removal of the wood from the forest. As a small forest owner, being a member ensures I get a higher price for my wood than I could if I were independent."
Södra’s members are divided into 19 areas (Mr Larsson’s is the Vimmerby commune). Each votes for an area representative who then votes on the general Södra board on behalf of his/her area. Mr Larsson also participates in the annual general meetings and the local forest area meetings. As part of the membership services, he also has access to educational seminars to keep up to date with the latest forestry news and best practice.
Part of that best practice is certification and Mr Larsson sees Södra’s early entry into certification as an advantage – his forest is dual certified under both FSC and PEFC and he receives a premium on his wood from Södra as a result. Södra keep auditing costs down by conducting its internal and external audits at the same time for both PEFC and FSC.
For Mr Larsson, remaining at the forefront of environmental developments goes hand in hand with profitability. "There’s a lot of focus now on environmental issues and it’s vital we keep up. Forestry is firmly rooted in a global context now and we keep up to date on global affairs because they affect us much more than they used to. Earlier generations harvested their forest when they needed money or when they needed the wood for themselves. Today the forest’s needs come before our own; we harvest when it’s right for the trees, not when it’s convenient for me."
In addition, he added, today’s small foresters, within Södra at least, are more focused than their ancestors. "I take a 20-year perspective on forestry, I’m looking to spread my risk and I think constantly about different scenarios and solutions: how to protect the trees from a new species of beetle, how to develop more storm-resistant root systems, introducing higher-yield seedlings, and so on.
"In the future we will become even more effective at harvesting and making the most of the wood. There’s a lot of work going on to optimise performance and yield which will only continue. In Sweden, for example, there’s a lot of discussion about the fact that elk eat our seedlings, so we are looking at ways to develop seedlings with minimum appeal to the elk. Another option might be to feed the elk alternative foodstuffs so they don’t rely on our seedlings in the first place."
Mr Larsson believes the importance of the forest will only increase in the busy lives of future generations. "The value of recreation is increasing and the forest represents a breathing space for people; they enjoy and value it." But he is well aware that while the forest may hold a growing appeal as a source of relaxation, the pressures on its end use are also increasing. He believes strongly that wood should be used where it can generate the most profit with the least environmental impact. "Rather than burning wood for fuel, we should be looking to build more houses using wood instead of bricks," he said. "The timber industry is a major source of employment and it will only become more interesting as opportunities for by-products and bioenergy develop."
Knowing his forest is a valuable asset doesn’t mean that Mr Larsson will automatically pass the forest on to his children, however. "I certainly hope my children will take the forest on after me. That would feel very good. But if they’re not interested in taking the best care of it, I would rather see it go to someone who really wants to make the most of it. Of course, I hope that will prove to be my children and that the forest will stay in the family for many more generations to come."
Södra’s green plan
As many as 3,500 forest owners could be delivering wood to just one of Södra’s sawmills at any one time, so keeping track of quality and environmental considerations is vital. With these aims in mind, in the early 1990s, the company developed its green management plans, which aim to balance forestry production with biodiversity needs. These went on to become a role model now widely used in Swedish forestry practices.
The aim of the plans is to provide the forest owner with a comprehensive tool for managing his/her forests and balancing production targets with environmental ones. A new plan is drawn up exclusively for each individual estate and provides a detailed description of the forest relating to wood supply, tree age and species. For each area (compartment) of the forest, a long-term management target is drawn up which indicates which way a particular compartment should focus – production or the environment. The targets are then split into four further classes: Production with general environmental consideration (lower nature conservation value); combined targets, where wood production is still an important objective but where higher nature values (more than 10% of the area) also require specific objectives; nature conservation requiring treatment, set aside exclusively for nature conservation and requiring some form of treatment in order to be preserved and/or developed; and nature conservation untouched, such as swamp forests with natural water dynamics. The latter three classes are described in detail in each plan with set targets and proposed actions.
The plan typically contains proposals for action over a 10-year period based on the current state of the forest as well as its potential and targets. Available to forest owners in digital format, the plan can be continually updated and easily communicated to authorities and environmental groups.
Since, like Mikael Larsson, many of Södra’s members actually live on their farms and may have other interests on their land such as hunting, each plan is agreed upon with its owner after careful consideration of his or her circumstances, but the minimum set-aside land is 5% of the estate. For many it is considerably higher.
Södra’s green management plans are now being implemented across 1.5 million ha of land in southern Sweden (land which was all used for grazing cattle a few generations ago) and they are a pre-requisite for Södra’s members receiving certification and a premium for certified wood.
