Silvicultural and forest improvement work 2019

• Total investments in silvicultural and forest improvement work were EUR 265 million in 2019. Costs of silviculture totalled EUR 209 million, showing a slight decrease from the previous year. Investments in forest improvement work increased by 31 per cent in real terms to EUR 55 million (deflated using the wholesale price index). Forest improvement work includes fertilisation, ditch network maintenance, and basic improvement and construction of forest roads. The total costs of ditch network maintenance and basic improvement and construction of forest roads are also included in forest improvement work.
• The area of early and later pre-commercial thinning and improvement of young stands was 169,000 hectares, down by 8 per cent from the previous year. The area of early and later pre-commercial thinning was 130,000 and that of improvement of young stands was 39,000 hectares.
• The area of artificial regeneration increased by 4 per cent from the previous year to 100,000 hectares. Seeding accounted for one quarter of the artificial regeneration area, increasing by 16 per cent from the previous year. The planting area remained unchanged.
• Investments were made actively in forest improvement work in 2019. A total of 2,500 kilometres of forest roads were basic improved and constructed. Ditch network maintenance increased to 12,000 kilometres.
• On the basis of notifications of forest use, the area treated with fellings was estimated to be 711,000 hectares. Thinning and the removal of seed trees and shelterwood trees accounted for the majority of the felling area, covering 555,000 hectares. Clear cutting made up 16 per cent and seed tree and shelterwood felling 4 per cent of the total felling area.

The statistics for silviculture and forest improvement include work carried out in private, commercial and state-owned forests. Since 2015, the statistics have not included work carried out independently by forest owners in their own forests, as this is not recorded in the statistics from the data collected from forest service providers.

Silvicultural work, 2019