First Forest Act issued about 120 years ago

The first Forest Act in Finland was issued in 1886. At that time, the primary content of the Act was to prohibit the destruction of forests. In later times the principle of sustainable development has been introduced in the Forest Act. To begin with, sustainable forestry was only taken to mean sustainability in terms of timber production. The most recent Forest Act, valid from the beginning of 1997, considers ecological and social sustainability to be equally important as economic sustainability.

During the 19th century, forest management was not very systematic. Forests were felled to make arable land, and the cutting of firewood was extensive. Towards the end of the century, the developing sawmill industry posed a new threat for forest sustainability. Sawmills needed roundwood above all, which led to the cutting of the stoutest trees –known as selection cutting. According to the current view this led to a deterioration in forest structure and the genotype of trees.

The birth of the pulp and paper industry in the 20th century enabled the use of small-size timber and sawmill residue. As a result, the so-called periodic cover silviculture was gradually introduced in Finland after the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, the stemwood yielded by both thinning and final felling is used in its entirety. If the use of timber for energy increases in the future according to plans, more and more of the timber felled can be put to good use.

7. Timber utilisation and felling

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