Browsing by Author "Ojanen, Elina"

The purpose of this study is to understand how to utilize forests as a climate change mitigation method. This thesis introduces practical forest management methods that increase the carbon sink of forests in Finland. The perspective of this thesis is market-based and voluntary-based. The research method of this thesis was to simulate two forest estates from different regions of Finland. The forest estate data consisted of two forests, one of which is located in Eastern Finland and the other in Western Finland. Both forests are pine dominated, although the one in Western Finland contains quite a lot of spruce as well. The forest in Eastern Finland is sub-xeric and the one in Western Finland is mesic. The changes in increment, harvesting, growing stock, carbon sink and the cost of carbon sink were analyzed comparing different scenarios. The best practice guidelines by Tapio were used as a baseline and two carbon cases were created for both forest estates. The changes in forest management included altering the rotation and the amount, timing and volume of thinnings. For example fertilization and planting density were not included in creating the two carbon scenarios. The result is that it is possible to increase the carbon sink in forests. The yield from total harvesting over the analysis period of 80 years increased compared to the baseline, however the changes in assortment distribution were considerable. The rotations were shorter, which decreased the harvesting yield of logs and increased the harvesting yield of pulpwood. It takes decades for the benefits of forest carbon management to start to show, which is a long time period to commit to. The results depend on the state of the forest, i.e. the development and age class distribution. As this thesis compares different cases, no generalized practice guidelines can be derived based on the results of this study. How the results change in different forests should be examined. The cost of the forest carbon management depends on the payment method, but in these forest estates it was possible to keep the cost reasonable: under 50 euros. The main conclusion of this thesis is that CO2 sequestration can be increased cost-efficiently in Finland. The benefits begin to show after decades, which is a long time to commit to. Some market mechanisms to increase CO2 sequestration in forests have emerged at a global level, but so far in the Nordics only some private companies have taken voluntary action to mitigate climate change.