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Forests and forest industries can contribute to climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, by storing it in biomass, and by fabricating products that substitute more greenhouse gas emission intensive materials and energy. The objectives of the study are to specify alternative scenarios for the diversification of wood product markets and to determine how an increasingly diversified market structure could impact the net carbon emissions (NCEs) of forestry in Finland. The NCEs of the Finnish forest sector were modelled for the period 2016–2056 by using a forest management simulation and optimization model for the standing forests and soil and separate models for product carbon storage and substitution impacts. The annual harvest was fixed at approximately 70 Mm3, which was close to the level of roundwood removals for industry and energy in 2016. The results show that the substitution benefits for a reference scenario with the 2016 market structure account for 9.6 Mt C (35.2 Mt CO2 equivalent [CO2 eq]) in 2056, which could be further increased by 7.1 Mt C (26 Mt CO2 eq) by altering the market structure. As a key outcome, increasing the use of by‐products for textiles and wood–plastic composites in place of kraft pulp and biofuel implies greater overall substitution credits compared to increasing the level of log harvest for construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-objective forest planning is a multi-methodological endeavor whose success largely depends on how well the combined use of different methods contributes to the goals of the planning. This review assessed the benefits of mixing methods in natural resources planning. A sample of 30 peer-reviewed research articles was analyzed using an evaluation framework, designed based on democracy and planning theories, and participatory planning literature, including four dimensions: transparency, flexibility, consensus building, and operability. According to analyses, mixing different types (i.e. qualitative and quantitative) of methods generally yields greater benefits than the combination of similar methods. The subsample of 12 planning cases that utilized simulation-optimization software (SOS) appeared operable and moderately transparent, whereas flexibility and consensus building were often lacking. In comparison to the wide scholarly discussion on multi-methodology and mixing methods, it was observed that successful mixing examples in natural resource planning are still scarce and there are weaknesses in bridging the methods together. There is an evident need to pursue and to better communicate the benefits of mixing. Some good mixing examples utilizing SOS provided evidence that forest planning processes would make an excellent venue for studying the benefits and caveats of using mixed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Impacts of bioeconomy on climate have been much discussed, but less attention has been given to biodiversity deterioration. One approach to assess biodiversity impacts is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Finland is a forested country with intensive forest industries, but only coarse biodiversity LCA methods are available. The aim of this study was to further develop and apply approaches to assess the biodiversity impacts of wood use in Finland. With the species richness approach (all taxons included), biodiversity impacts were higher in Southern than in Northern Finland but impacts in Southern and Northern Finland were lower when mammals, birds and molluscs were included. With the ecosystem indicators approach, if the reference situation were forest in its natural state, biodiversity impacts were higher than in the case where the initial state of forest before final felling was used to derive biodiversity loss. In both cases, the biodiversity impacts were higher in Northern Finland. These results were not coherent as the model applying species richness data assesses biodiversity loss based on all species, whereas the ecosystem indicators approach considers vulnerable species. One limitation of the species richness approach was that there were no reliable datasets available. In the ecosystem indicators approach, it was noticed that the biodiversity of managed Finnish forests is substantially lower than in natural forests. Biodiversity LCA approaches are highly sensitive to reference states, applied model and data. It is essential to develop approaches capable of comparing biodiversity impacts of forest management practices, or when looking at multiple environmental impacts simultaneously with the LCA framework. Image 1 • A life cycle approach was applied to assess the biodiversity impacts of wood use. • Characterisation factors were developed for boreal forests. • Approaches based on different indicators are not coherent. • Biodiversity impacts depend on the reference situation, indicators and datasets. • With the models, the biodiversity impact of forest products in LCA can be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a long tradition of sustainable forest policy in Finland. Today, forests should be managed on the basis of the principles of sustainable forestry. However, economics have driven such forestry practices, resulting in dramatic changes to the natural structure and dynamics of Finnish forests. Commercial forests should, however, also provide habitats for various organisms, and forestry activities should not reduce forest biodiversity. Indicators can provide useful information on the ecological status and trends in sustainable forestry, such information can then be used by decision-makers. In attempts to develop accurate and reliable indicators, it has been suggested that statistical data, inventory data and data on many taxa may prove useful. The richness of game species and the abundance of the Siberian flying squirrel have been considered as candidate indicators for sustainable forestry. Indicators of sustainable forestry are commonly used separately and the interrelations between the ecological, economic and social dimensions of forestry have rarely been studied. In this paper we examine associations between the abundance of animal species (16 game species and Siberian flying squirrels) and their co-occurrence with forest structural characteristics that are considered to be indicators of sustainable forestry. We were also interested in examining regional patterns of the variables, and determining which socio-economic indicators and land-use factors were associated (positively or negatively) with areas of forest for which there were indicators suggesting a good ecological condition. The study area consisted of 39 observation units. Based on our exploratory and descriptive analyses we suggest that using indices for different wildlife species groups and relative abundances of the Siberian flying squirrel together with forest structural characteristics and adequate socio-cultural variables could provide relevant information about trends in sustainable forestry. The application of indicators always depends on socio-cultural contexts and biogeographical factors, and these must be taken into consideration when making predictions or comparing different regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]