A sustainable rate of harvesting is 84 million cubic metres a year. In 2015, 68 million cubic metres of round wood was harvested and 59 million cubic metres was used by the industry. Some 9 million cubic metres of round wood was harvested for energy production. Harvesting could be increased the most in private forests.
To ensure wood supply, forest policy needs to encourage forest owners to sell wood. Forest owners need to be given more information so they can be more active, forest services need to be marketed and all players in the sector must have a common desire to improve the timber supply.
There are about 630 000 forest owners in Finland (whose forest properties are bigger than 2 hectares) and they are in a key position to secure the forest industry’s timber supply. About 70% of the wood raw material that industry needs is bought from private forests. Domestic wood supply is based on practicing active and profitable private forest management and its operating conditions must be continuously developed.
The objective of forest policy must be for private forests to be managed more professionally and in bigger units. Forest owners must be encouraged and directed in various ways towards active forest management.
Increasing the supply of domestic timber on the market:
- Enhance the forest services offered to forest owners and improve the marketing of these services.
- Build new e-services that increase the amount of information about prices.
- Make more efficient use of information about forest resources and public information.
- Invest in wood production and forest improvement.
- Increase the cost-efficiency of forest management.
- Speed up generational transfers and increase the size of forest properties.
- Develop forest management methods.