Climate Action 2010-2011

SPECIAL FEATURE | Viken Skog
The challenge in the future will be to facilitate a
modern use of wood in buildings which are both durable
in the long term, and also fulfil the society’s demands
for design, user friendliness and aesthetics. This may
be achieved by using wood products such as laminated
timber and cross laminated solid timber in taller
buildings in cities and local communities. To showcase
the use of wood as a modern building material, Viken
Skog chose to build its own four-storey head office in
2007 entirely from cross laminated solid timber and
glass, just outside the city of Hønefoss. Oslo Airport
Gardermoen has also made extensive use of wood both
as surfaces and in structural parts of the terminal.
The potential of biomass
Norway has a lot of hydroelectric power used to produce
clean electric energy. Today, approximately 70 per cent of
all heating in Norway comes from hydroelectric power,
and it is a national goal to convert this to other renewable
sources of energy, including energy from biofuels. Viken
Skog is active within the whole value chain to develop and
produce biofuel for the production of heat in the shape of
steam from remote heating plants and local heating plants.
Biomass refined into oil products is another CO 2
-
neutral carrier of energy which may be used for fuel in the
transport sector among other uses. Viken Skog is actively
participating in research and technology to promote the
use of biomass for tomorrow’s bioenergy market. For the
forest owners it is important to make the most of their
forest properties and intensify the use of biomass for new
purposes. There is a great potential in facilitating the use
of treetops, branches, shrubbery and other suitable crops
for the production of heat. Even if the use of wood for
bioenergy were to be multiplied several times compared
to the level in 2010, it would not reduce the ability of the
standing forest to absorb CO 2
through its natural growth.
Certified forestry: the PEFC and FSC
standards
All timber sold by forest owners to Viken Skog carries
an environmental Programme for the Endorsement of
Forest Certification (PEFC) certificate issued by the
certification agency Det Norske Veritas. Part of the
timber is in addition Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-
certified using the Woodmark standard. With these two
internationally recognised certifications, customers can be
assured that the forests are sustainably managed and that
practices to preserve forest biodiversity are upheld.
What makes forest management
sustainable?
The individual forest owner is responsible for managing
his or her forest according to the relevant certification
principles (PEFC or FSC). Viken Skog offers to perform
an environmental review for all its forest owners. By
2012, all forest owners within Viken Skog will have
completed a comprehensive review of their land and
registered any particular environmental values such as
key habitats for protection. Forest owners who choose
not to participate in the environmental area review
must, in order to log and sell timber from their land,
carry out their own environmental review with an
appropriately skilled assessor to ensure that the forestry
activities are performed sustainably. Through annual
internal and external audits, Viken Skog ensures that the
environmental standards, such as the conservation of key
habitats to protect biodiversity, are upheld.
All the forest owners are offered training through
courses and reading material in order to improve their
knowledge about the environmental aspects of forestry,
and are also offered refresher courses from time to time.
Machine logging – training crucial for
machine operators
Almost all timber is logged by forest harvesters, and as
much as 75 per cent is administered by Viken Skog’s
district foresters. Since so much of the logging is done by
forest harvesters and there are many logging jobs during
the year, the operator of the forest harvester plays a vital
role. It is the operator’s evaluations and performance
which often decide whether the logging is done
according to agreed quality and environmental standards.
It is therefore critical that the operator not only has good
knowledge of logging procedures but also has a clear
understanding of why procedures must be followed to
the letter. Competence in the quality and environmental
requirements for sustainable forest management is a
prerequisite for a skilled forest harvester operator.
Online information for members
Ensuring accurate and updated information reaches
the cooperative’s thousands of forest owners is a great
challenge, especially in cases where the income from
forestry activities is of little economic importance. Many
forest owners have little annual activity in their forest
and only rarely sell any timber (perhaps as little as every
10 years). An increasing number of forest owners now
look to the internet for information regarding forestry.
For these reasons, information concerning timber sales
and environmental certification is now easily accessible
via the Viken Skog website.
The annual environmental report documents key
developments in areas such as logging procedures and
sustainability. This information is accessible via the
separate members’ area within the Viken Skog website.
The cooperative also issues a members’ magazine where
all members can read feedback from the annual external
quality and environmental audit and other forestry news.
Stig Olav Sorthe
Viken Skog BA, PO Box 500 Sentrum, 3504 Hønefoss
Norway
Tel: +47 32 10 30 00
Email: stig.olav.sorthe@viken.skog.no
Website: www.viken.skog.no
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