Socio-Economic Importance of the Boreal Forests in the Nordic Countries

This paper gives an overview of the socio-economic significance of forest resources and their utilization in the Nordic countries. The investigation covers Finland, Norway and Sweden, where coniferous forest with some birch and other broadleaved trees is the natural forest type in most areas. From the viewpoint of national economy, the major part of the socio-economic benefits from forests comes from the large-scale forest products industry. In vast rural areas, forestry is also significant in the context of regional development. Because of relatively strong competitiveness of the forest products industries, it is likely that the role of the Nordic countries will remain high in satisfying the world's demand for forest industry products. Timber resources as such are not a limiting factor to the expansion of forest products industries in these countries. However, nature protection and nontimber values of forest, among other factors, lower the usable potential of timber resources for industrial purposes. The most challenging task is to find a sound balance in which both the economic and environmental functions of forests can be fulfilled simultaneously