TL: SCANDINAVIA-THE FIBRE FABRIC OF EUROPE? SO: Sari Kuvaja, Greenpeace Finland (GP) DT: March 17, 1995 Keywords: forests terrec logging finland scandinavia europe / ENDLESS TAIGA? Threat To + Protection of Boreal Forests International Conference, March 27-28, 1995, BERLIN Seminar 5/2: SCANDINAVIA - THE FIBRE FABRIC OF EUROPE? Tuesday, March 28, 1995 Sari Kuvaja, Greenpeace, Finland 1. INTRODUCTION: Nordic countries - Europe's green woodyard? Finland and Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995. With these two countries and Austria, the quantitative forest resources of the EU has almost doubled. The Scandinavian industry and governments are eagerly promoting increasing primary fibre use, lobbying against paper recycling and assuring to European consumers that 'Scandinavian forests are ready to fulfil your paper and wood needs'. The major part of the world's forest industry is domestic, but there are some heavily export oriented forest industry countries both in the tropics as well as in the boreal and the temperate regions. In Finland, for example, the share of exports amount on the average to over 70 % of the production. Over 90 % of the printing paper is exported. In 1992, the export revenues of the forest industry were 36 % of the total value of Finnish exports. The impact of the forest industry is widely felt also in other sectors, such as metal industry and forestry consultancy work. The forest industry plays greater importance in the Finnish national economy than in any other country in the world, even though for example for Sweden, the forest industry's role is also extremely significant. The main market area of Sweden's and Finland's forest industry is Western Europe. The member states of the European Union buy nearly two thirds of the Finnish pulp, paper and timber exports. The most important single buyers are Germany and the UK. These facts make the forest industry happy. The situation also gives forest industry companies a lot of social power and forces government officials support forest industry's aims and policies, both publicly and unofficially, in international fora - like the EU - and in domestic politics. However, one should ask very seriously whether it is economically, socially and egologically sustainable or even possible to build a country's economy and welfare on one industrial sector. 2. SCANDINAVIAN FORESTRY MODEL - A PLANTATION MYTH The Scandinavian forest management model is promoted by the Scandinavian industry and governments as a model for the world. Wood products are marketed as coming from sustainably managed forests. But forest management in Scandinavia is sustainable only in the narrowest of senses: by concentrating on a couple of commercial species, the countries and companies have been able to maintain their timber yield. But this is not the same as sustaining the forest as a whole. A large proportion of Scandinavian forests belong to the Taiga, the boreal forest zone of the Earth. The primary and old-growth boreal forests are characterized by a multilayered, uneven-aged tree structure with a mixed tree species distribution. Fire, the most important regenerator in natural forests, created a very diverse forest structure both at stand and landscape level. Fire treated different forest types very differently, and seldom killed all the trees in the area. Today, less than 5 per cent of the forest cover of Scandinavia is natural old-growth forests. Most forests have been turned to more or less even-aged, ecologically poor tree farms. From a biological point of view, the transition from completely natural forest to a forest under some degree of human impact is not very critical. As long as the ecology and the dynamics of the forest remain natural, and as long as the forest still serves as a habitat for its natural set of plant and animal species it can be regarded as unaffected or at least not destroyed. Most early human forest use took place on such a small scale or extended over such long periods of time that it did not destroy the biological legacy of the forests. Large, remote areas remained almost totally untouched. This is particularly true for the northern coniferous region. From an ecological point of view, the crucial step is taken when continuity - the biological legacy - is destroyed. When this happens, one set of species is replaced by another. The interconnections between the species are profoundly changed. In Scandinavia, this change took place over most of the forest land after the break-through of the clearcut forestry in the 1950's. During the following decades this management regime has affected most forest land in Finland and Sweden. The natural pattern and dynamics of the forest landscape has been replaced with a man-made cycle, which is one and the same regardless of forest type and which works in a tempo and scale that is quite different from the natural one. In addition, the natural disturbances such as fire - once a vital part of forest dynamics - have virtually disappeared. To summarize, the Scandinavian forestry model means - clearcutting - decrease in old-growth forests - promotion of single species and even-aged forest stands - fundamental changes in forest ecosystems, landscapes and structure. If the last fragments of old-growth forest are logged and converted to managed plantation forests, Scandinavian countries will face an even more serious biodiversity crisis than today. Unlike the tropical rainforests where species are visibly being lost, and new trees are seldomly planted, the new boreal plantations give the image of sustaining populations into the future. But there is no evidence that plantations are ecologically sustainable in the long-term - or even short-term. If societies reduce their paper demand now, it will take the pressure off the forests and make lower yield ecologically responsible and socially just forestry a viable alternative. 3. PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGICALLY RESPECTFUL FOREST USE 31. Forest Protection p There is no such thing as ecologically sustainable exploitation of finite resources. Forests may also prove to be finite if we continue exploiting them at the present rate. At present, human knowledge about the ecological properties and species composition of natural forests is still very limited. Networks of protected forest areas and other ecosystems are necessary as a precaution against potentially irreversible damage from forest use. Only then can the full diversity of forest structures, functions and dynamics be restored and maintained. Protected areas are also needed to help the threateaned and endangered species and habitats to recover and survive. 32. Principles and Guidelines for Forest Use Management of forest ecosystems must be based on the study and application of the ecological properties of natural forests, and must mimic natural processes and maintain ecosystem integrity. The overall goal of forest management is to maintain the natural diversity in forest ecosystems and ecologically sustainable use of forests. This includes: - the protection of natural ecosystems and their functions; - securing the long-term survival of plant and animal species in viable populations within their natural distribution areas; and - the maintenance of genetic variation. Any use of forest must be subordinated to the goals listed above, in order to avoid disturbances or damage to the ecological functions and integrity of the forest. 4. THE ROLE OF CONSUMPTION The world consumption of paper has increased 17-fold since 1913. According to industry forecasts, the global consumption of paper and paperboard will continue to increase by 80 per cent over the next 15 years. The development, such as that indicated by the forecasts would increase global roundwood demand by 200 - 250 million m3 over the period 1990-2010, even if paper recycling increased from present 35 to 50 per cent. This resembles more than the entire present Canadian wood harvest or 2-3 times the Scandinavian harvest. Hence, it is essential to reduce paper consumption in Western Europe, North America and Japan in order to: - release the pressure on the world's forests, in order to facilitate the replacement of clearcut-plantation forestry with ecologically sustainable forest management; - allow developing countries to cover basic paper needs; - allow the consumption of sawn wood to increase, in order to replace plastics and metals with wood as construction material. Many individuals, corporations and governments now acknowledge their responsibility as consumers in causing forest destruction. Some are taking steps to change their consumption patterns for the better. The new consumer ethic is altering the international marketplace for forest products. p It is very hard to try to estimate the sustainable level of wood products consumption. It is clear, however, that if the present trends continue, and consumption continues growing, the pressure on the remaining old-growth forests in Scandinavia will not lessen. Further, the rate of destruction in old-growth forests in Canada and Russia will increase dramatically. What is more, the possibilities to phase-out clearcut forestry, and implement ecologically sustainable forest management will be very limited, since such concepts include lower allowable cut levels. Finnish and Swedish forest industry and owners have recently introduced new forest management policies and guidelines. Clearcuttings have become smaller, some dead and even living trees are left on a logged area, and some key biotopes are protected. Greenpeace welcomes the steps taken, but finds it disappointing that there has been no real change in the clearcutting-plantation concept. More profound changes are needed to adjust forest use and management to natural forest dynamics. It is really very irresponsible that the Scandinavian governments offer our forests to serve as the fibre farms of Europe. I am very sure that citizens of European countries would like to see the forests as webs of life, rich and diverse, instead of raw-material storages for industry. The consumers have a possibility to have an impact on the fate of forests - and a responsibility to do so.