Nature conservation always plays a central role regardless of the work being conducted in the forest, such as final felling, clearing or thinning. Nature conservation is divided up into three levels: conservation areas, conservation patches and single-object considerations.
Conservation area
Conservation areas are areas larger than one hectare and, in some cases, are up to several hundred hectares in size. In its ecological landscape planning, SCA makes decisions regarding conservation areas and how they shall be preserved, whether final felling of a mature stand will be postponed or if it will be cultivated using alternative methods due to the high nature value. Postponing final felling entails deferring the harvesting of an area that is mature from a financial perspective.
Conservation patch
Conservation patches are areas that are between 0.1 and 1 hectare. Conservation patches include buffer zones, wet hollows (long, narrow, marshy forest hollows), outcrops of bedrock and slopes. Planning of conservation patches is conducted prior to harvesting.
Single-object consideration
Single-object consideration relates to areas less than 0.1 hectares (about 32 x 32 meters). Single-object consideration is the smallest of the nature conservation areas and comprises the preservation of such items as single trees, groups of trees, high stumps and smaller wet hollows. Single-object consideration is planed by the felling team in their daily work in the forest.
Illustrations: Martin Holmer