Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 53
1 and there was a considerable reduction in birch in their
2 forest resource. Since that time that has recovered and
3 the birch proportion is increasing steadily. At the
4 present moment the birch proportion in Finnish forests is
5 18.1 per cent of the forest resource growing.
6
7 Q. You have talked about guidelines or laws against, well,
8 this is in Finland but it applies to other countries
9 I think, about not cutting larger than 10 hectares there in
10 Finland; it is no longer acceptable, you say. These kinds
11 of guidelines, are they recent changes in various countries
12 because of ecological concerns?
13 A. In the case of Finland the cuttings larger than the
14 current almost maximum, it is not just an average, of 2
15 hectares per coupe, almost all of those were in the North
16 of Finland in State owned forestry under government
17 department supervision. Their cuts over 10 hectares did
18 apply. It does not apply now.
19
20 Q. When did it change?
21 A. It has been changing.
22
23 Q. When was it effectively ceased happening?
24 A. It would be difficult to put a precise time on it
25 because there have been certain areas larger than 10
26 hectares, larger than 100 hectares that have been cleared,
27 but only in areas where there were some environmental
28 problems such as pest attack and the like where they had to
29 clear it in any case to stop the spread of pest diseases.
30
31 Q. A general question, when you say "had to clear it" that
32 would be for economic reasons?
33 A. To stop it from going further.
34
35 Q. In France the standing volume of timber is estimated at 1.6
36 billion cubic metres with an annual harvesting of 30
37 million cubic metres. It just struck me that you have not
38 said that for France but you have said that for other
39 countries, that the forest cover is increasing. If in
40 France 30 million cubic metres were done each year for 100
41 years, that would be 3 billion which would be double the
42 actual present forest cover. Is that correct? Is cutting
43 down happening at a faster rate than regeneration at the
44 moment in France?
45 A. Cutting down is not happening at a faster rate than
46 regeneration in terms of the total forest area. In fact,
47 France is in balance as opposed to in a growth state at the
48 present time, but it is rather like the British situation
49 where their plantation forest are maturing. Therefore, the
50 volume of timber will increase rather than decrease on an
51 annual basis. I think I have drawn attention to the fact
52 that as far as the UK is concerned, within 25 years of now
53 we will have double the timber availability from our
54 managed forests then we have at the present time.
55
56 Q. Just one question before we leave Finland. Is it true that
57 of the 18 per cent increase in softwood stocks in the 80s,
58 15 per cent of that 18 per cent or thereabouts was planted
59 on ex-peat land?
60 A. Finland has over 10 million hectares of peat land which
