Five years have passed since the Gudrun storm.
- All storm wood terminals emptied
- All saw logs from the storm sawn
- More than 95 per cent of storm clearings replanted
Five years ago the Gudrun storm swept across Götaland, followed by a new storm, Per, two years later. The task of cleaning up after the storms is now essentially complete with only a small clearing area yet to be replanted.
The last terminal stocks of storm wood were collected from the Asige terminal in Halland in late November 2009. Södra had a total of more than 10 million cubic metres of storm wood simultaneously stored at terminals, mills and vehicle roads.
Two days before Christmas Eve last year the final storm wood logs were sawn at the Södra Timber Värö sawmill and will be sold as building timber to Great Britain and Ireland.
“The overall outcome is much as planned. Even if the logs have been very black on the outside, the wood has generally been of good quality,” says Lars Woxneryd, environmental manager for Södra Timber.
The replanting process following the storms has been fast. Close to 90 per cent of the storm clearings have been replanted. Natural regeneration has occurred on a further seven per cent. Less than five per cent of the cleared areas are yet to be fully replanted in spring 2010.
Between 2007 and 2009 the annual delivery of plants from Södra has been 40¬-45 million, compared to a normal annual level of 25 million.
“We are counting on the planting rate being just as high in 2010. The heavy demand for plants has coincided with excellent harvests in Södra nurseries, which has meant we’ve been able to deliver good plant material,” said Göran Örlander, Södra’s Head of Forest Management.
Want to know more about Södra’s processing of storm wood?
>> A factsheet on the storm processing can be found in the linked document.
For further information, please contact:
Per Braconier, Director of Communications, +46 470 89462
Göran Örlander, Head of Forest Management, +46 470 89362