Climate change also affects Finnish forests. The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and higher average temperatures have a positive impact on tree growth but also increase the risk of forest damage.
Climate-resilient forest management choices can ensure the ability of forests to adapt to and mitigate climate change.
Ensuring adaptation
The ability of forests to adapt to climate change can be affected through timely, systematic and active forest and nature management. At the same time, the increase in tree growth brought about by climate change can be utilised. Attention should be paid to selecting the right tree species for the site: favouring mixed trees reduces the risk of damage. Adding deciduous trees also increases biodiversity.
Safeguarding biodiversity also means ensuring the adaptability of forests. Ensuring biodiversity strengthens the ability of forests to adapt to environmental changes and reduces forest vulnerability to individual pest species, among other benefits.
Climate change mitigation
Forests and wood products can be used to mitigate climate change. Ensuring efficient carbon sequestration of trees, minimising greenhouse gas emissions and replacing fossil raw materials with wood-based products play a key role in mitigation.
Carbon sequestration can be strengthened through quick and high-quality forest restoration methods and by utilising refined seedling material. Carbon sequestration in forests can be further improved by means of fertilisation and afforestation of open areas.
Ensuring a suitable growing space safeguards the vitality of the trees and helps them grow sturdy faster, which in turn improves resilience to destruction and increases the amount of commercial timber throughout the forest cycle.
The objective of various forest management measures is that the forest produces high-quality raw timber that can be processed into various wood-based products in the future. These products can replace fossil raw materials and bind carbon to final products. The best carbon sequestration is found in wood products with a long life span, such as structures.
See also
On this page
Elsewhere on the internet
- Climate Guide: Information about climate change in one address
- European Commission: Climate change
- Forest management recommendations: Climate- resilient forest management (in Finnish)
- Natural Resources Institute Finland: research report on the impacts of climate change on forest management (in Finnish)
- Natural Resources Institute Finland: Climate change mitigation (in Finnish)