The project 'Robust strategies for developing the forest sector in a turbulent world' is funded by Formas, a Swedish government research council for sustainable development.
"Forests and forestry are of great importance in the Nordic countries, and society has many goals for the forest. These goals often conflict with one another – if you want more of one, you may have to accept less of another," explains Hanne K. Sjølie, Professor of Forest Sciences and head of the Forest Research Group.
She points out that forests supply timber to industry, absorb and store CO2, represent the most important ecosystem for biodiversity, and also serve as a place for exercise and recreation for the general population.
Many factors influence the forestry sector
"Sweden is one of the world’s largest exporters of wood-based products such as planks, paper and cardboard, while Norway is the largest exporter of raw material – that is, timber – to Sweden. The timber markets in Norway and Sweden are closely interconnected, and they are affected by numerous factors: economic growth, political developments both nationally and globally, climate change, and technological advances," says Sjølie.
She explains how even small changes in parts of the value chains can influence the entire system – for example, how changes in forest management practices to meet society’s demand for more diverse forestry can affect the competitiveness of the industry.
Because forestry operates with long time horizons and there is great uncertainty about how these influencing factors will evolve in the future, there is a need for forward-looking research that provides a basis for sound decision-making.
"In this project, we will develop scenarios for the forest sector in Sweden and Norway, based on the knowledge and insights of stakeholders in both countries. We are creating a shared analytical tool for the complete value chains – from seeds in the forest to sawn timber and paper – which will allow us to quantify estimates of how forestry and industry might evolve within these scenarios. With this, we can assess the consequences of strategic and political decisions and evaluate conflicts, trade-offs, and costs between different objectives," explains Sjølie.
Formas is awarding the project just under SEK 10.5 million in total (just above 950,000 euros), with approximately 20 percent allocated to the Department of Forestry and Wilderness Management at Evenstad.
We believe this project will yield valuable new insights that will benefit academia, industry, forestry and public administration in both Sweden and Norway.
"The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has been ranked among the world’s top institutions in forest research for many years, with excellent resources and a number of outstanding forestry researchers. I already know some of the researchers involved in this project, and they are highly competent – I’m very much looking forward to the collaboration," says Sjølie.
Contact information:
- hanne.sjolie@inn.no
- Phone
- +47 62 43 08 69