Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Södra Skog chose in 2011 to convert the saw mill in Traryd to a gradually refined sawmill of hardwood. In 2009, they had also acquired the hardwood sawmill in Djursdala. This was strategically important for Södra's business since the demand for hardwood products has increased. The standing volume of deciduous trees in Sweden is today approximately 524 million m3sk and it has increased rapidly in recent years. However, the deciduous forests are to a large extent located in areas that are set aside for nature conservation and is thus not available to the industry.
The goal of this work is to create a simple and reliable method for mapping of deciduous wood volumes in areas where Södra Skog is operating (Götaland excluding Gotland).
The material that is used is raster databases with estimated forest attributes (kNN-Sweden), data from National Forest Inventory (NFI) and forest management plans. The study was made on three operating areas, Broby, Sollebrunn and Åtvidaberg.
The result shows that the estimated deciduous volume reserved for nature conservation are relatively similar, between 8.2 and 10.2 percent for all of the operating areas that is part of this work. The standing volume of deciduous trees differs between the various regions and for Broby it is (excluding conservation provisions) 13.4 millions m3sk. Sollebrunn has a total standing volume of deciduous trees of 9.6 million m3sk and Åtvidaberg 7.6 million m3sk.
The method that is primarily recommended is the estimate from the National Forest Inventory as this will provide a more correct picture because the pure kNN-Sweden estimations that underestimate the deciduous volume. kNN-Sweden is however used to obtain the volume ratios between conservation provisions and the different maturity classes. When it comes to raise raw materials to the industries, it is neither volume in conservation areas or young plantations that are of interest. Because of that Södra Skog should be able to use the results based on NFI’s data for decision support in matters concerning wood supply.