Sustainable management of forests in Southern Savo –tools from research

Forest management is increasingly affected by ever-changing and intensified challenges and risks in both the habitat and socioeconomic environment. The most significant of these are changes in the growing environment caused by climate change and risks to forest vitality and growth capacity, increased demand for wood use while imports of wood from Russia have ceased, the need to strengthen forest carbon sequestration and reduced biodiversity. The effects of these big changes are highlighted in Southern Savo, where forests are more important to well-being than on the average in Finland

The solution to the challenges of multiobjective and overall sustainable use of forests is to find ways of forest management that as well as possible reconcile the various objectives.

The forests of Southern Savo are very diverse in structure and therefore different alternative forest management methods can be applied. Forest soil sites are more fertile and the proportion of deciduous trees in forests is higher than on the average in southern Finland, which increases the number of treatment options. On the other hand, in the forests of Southern Savo, there is demand to increase multi-objective forest management. Along with the production of timber and biomass, which is key to the economy, recreation and tourism are important factors to be considered in forest management. In a forest environment that is violated by water bodies, the watershed effects of forest management must be brought to a minimum. There is also a need for adjust management measures to better promote forest diversity and to increase conservation, as in other parts of southern Finland.

Addressing the challenges of overall sustainability has been a driving research and development theme for recent years in research portfolios of research institutions and universities. A lot of new and applicable data has been accumulated and is currently being produced in the numerous ongoing research and development projects.

Objectives

The project will help to solve the challenges of overall sustainable forest use and reconciliation by introducing suitable means and operating models for the exploitation of forests to the Southern Savo region operators in this region.

The main objectives of the project are: (1) to identify the most suitable overall sustainable treatment methods for the forests of Southern Savo to ensure the sustainability of timber and bioenergy production and other forest-based industries in a profitable and cost-effective manner; to increase forest vitality, diversity and resilience; and to promote the carbon sequestration of forests; (2) to promote the research-based development of the Southern Savo forest industry and sustainable use of forests through university, professional and continuing education, 3) exploit and develop the region innovation platforms and nationwide educational environments.

The project utilizes neutral research-based knowledge by expertly applying and understanding the constraints and possibilities of knowledge. The project will provide concrete support for research knowledge, solution models and tailored decision support in support of economic activities that make diverse use of forests in cooperation with operators in the region.

Implementation

The organizations implementing the project are the Finnish Natural Resources Institute (Luke), the University of Applied Sciences of Southeast Finland (XAMK) and the Vocational College Samiedu. Luke is Finland's leading research and expert organization on forests and their use. XAMK carries out comprehensive training, research and development activities in the field of forest bioeconomics. It has extensive and active cooperation networks with players in the region, Samiedu is an undergraduate school in forestry, which, in addition provides training and services to enterprises.

The project first explores, through a scenario review, how different management strategies with emphasis on different forms of use affect the use of forests in Southern Savo and on forest development at the provincial level. Regional economic impacts will also be examined. At the same time, the future needs of operators in the region are identified and the most viable operating models are identified. The relevance of knowledge and competences is ensured by developing services and methods that are best suited to each operator for information. Methods for exporting knowledge and knowledge into practice are piloted together with different target groups and communicate the results of the project.