29/07/2020
Hello everyone!
Operation green will soon be operational again! But before that, throw back to our first event for which we went to the surroundings of Linköping to see the difference between a clear-cut forest (first picture) and a virgin forest (second picture).
Clear-cutting is a method of harvesting timber by cutting all trees from a site and replacing them by evenly aged and young trees from the same species, that will be cut again at around 60 years old. In Sweden main part of the timber is used for paper by cutting, among others, Spruce tree. This method, sometimes considered as efficient and nice for the environment, actually shows some flaws: soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, both from a vegetal and animal point of view (birds, insects…), increased susceptibility to fire and to timber degradation (e.g bark beetle). 82% of the Swedish forest are used for production.
On the other hand, untouched forests show a great variety of age (they could be as old as hundreds of years) and species. Even dead trees welcome life by hosting, for example, woodpeckers! Not to mention the great absorption of CO2 of those forest but also their resilience to fire outbreaks. However, only 7% of the Swedish forest is protected.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to make another excursion like this one during the year so keep your eyes open! 🌳🌲🌳
