Making the most of our forests

“Working with Södra Innovation, Olof will be in charge of consolidating innovation within Skog. His focus will be on making the most of members’ forests, adding value for them but for customers too in the process. His job will involve looking at all aspects of forest management, from optimising biodiversity to digital planning, optimal planting and carbon sequestration.

“Take the example of an eight-story timber residential building containing around 64 apartments. It substitutes fossil materials, but it brings many other benefits, from storing carbon to generating all the other products that result from us harvesting the wood for that building, from green electricity and biofuels to pulp for textiles and paper. People do not always realise we don’t cut the tree to make pulp: we use the timber first, then the tree tops and thinnings for pulp. And while someone is constructing that house, we are busy growing more wood for the next one.

“Incidentally, the 2,000 m³ timber for that eight-story building and all the other products mentioned represents just six hours’ worth of growth in Europe’s forests.

“Balancing the economic interests of members with our own profitability and that of our customers while growing the forest for the future is at the heart of Södra’s mission. Olof’s appointment serves to reaffirm that sustainable forestry is a high-tech innovative business in which we are invested for the long term, for the sake of our members, our customers and the forest itself.”