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: Promote biodiversity

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. 

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.

Therefore, the area for conservation measures will increase and Södra’s aim is to carry out 3,000 hectares of conservation management annually.

This is where we are now

Harvest rate

In 2021, our harvest rate was within sustainable recommendations. The rate was 6,8 m³fo/ha, up 10 percent compared with 2020.

Approved final harvesting sites

Approved rejuvenation felling areas in the Green Accounts for 2021 were 78%. The corresponding figure in 2020 was 79%.

Nature-conservation

In 2021, the area where nature conservation measures were performed was 1,178 ha. The corresponding figure for 2020 was 1,643 ha.