Södra has now taken stock of the aftermath of the storms that hit southern Sweden from the first day of Advent in 2011. To date some 750,000 cubic metres of timber has been blown down in its members' areas.
"This tally includes the effects of the advent storm, including storms Emil and Dagmar and other days of heavy wind that resulted in wind-felled trees," says Håkan Svensson, Director of Forestry at Södra.
While the severity of the storms in southern Sweden varied from area to area, at most the regional tally adds up to approximately one-tenth of an annual felling. Södra's Southern Region was the hardest hit with around 350,000 cubic metres, followed by Western Region with around 300,000 cubic metres. The forest areas on Sweden's west coast, in northern Skåne and western Blekinge were the most severely affected areas. Although locally some individual forest owners were particularly hard hit, so far the volumes of fallen timber have been modest when compared with storms Per and Gudrun which blew down 16 million and 75 million cubic metres respectively.
Södra expects to accommodate the harvesting of these volumes within its normal operations, but it has also advised all forest owners to perform an inventory and ensure that all storm-felled timber is taken care of as quickly as possible. Wind-felled trees are spread over large areas and the ground is very wet, which makes rational and efficient harvesting difficult.
"When spring comes, these storm-felled trees will be a veritable feast for the spruce bark beetle," says Håkan Svensson. "So even with the risk of more storms it is vital that forest owners take stock of their property and begin harvesting as soon as possible."
Södra has extended a storm-related offer to its members making it simpler for forest owners to sell all their storm-felled timber. Södra advises forest owners to be very careful when taking care of wind-felled timber as the work is a lot more hazardous than regular felling.
