Södra’s members are committed to responsible forest management. Södra’s membership, comprising many small-scale forest farmers with a range of ideas and targets, contributes to highly-varied and diverse forest characteristics. A key tool for sustainable forestry is certification, which is why about 70 percent of our members hold FSC® and/or PEFC™ certification.
Targets: Sustainable harvest rate, responsible harvesting and more management measures
Forests are a resource that should be used, but not overused, which is why we have to manage and harvest our forests sustainably. We base our harvest rates on the recommendations issued by the Swedish Forest Agency and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. To increase conservation considerations, all harvesting operations are reviewed and rated using a Green Balance Sheet. The target for our considerations is a 95-percent approval rate by 2020. We offer advisory and other services to help our members achieve a balance between production and environmental and social values, and they set aside areas for nature conservation voluntarily. Preserving or enhancing the attributes of high conservation value areas requires special management methods. The area set aside for nature conservation measures will therefore increase: The target for 2020 is 3,000 hectares per year.