With a counting rod, iPad and self-developed app, Connie Johansen counts thousands of spruce and pine trees that Statskog will plant in 2020. – You have to pay close attention, but I think it’s good to be outside and it’s important work, she says. The first time so thoroughly Connie straightens the 3.99 meter pole. Then she starts counting how many forest plants there are between her and the tip of the pole. She notes on a pad. Then she rotates slightly to the right and continues counting. She often has to put down the pole and check the quality of the plant. When she has counted all the plants in the circle, she takes out the iPad. There, the forest worker reports how many plants there are, whether the three-year-olds are growing as they should, are numerous enough and are not damaged. With a measuring stick, Connie Johansen counts three-year-old plants on one of Statskog’s properties. By 1 July, Statskog must have checked all 12,000 acres on which forests were planted three years ago. Photo: Stein S Eide / news For every 10 acres, she must make at least 5 such test plots. In total, Statskog planted 2.2 million forest plants on 12,000 acres in the record year 2020. Now all the areas are to be counted for the first time. Climate takes a toll on plants Before it was enough to take random samples to check the rejuvenation, the mend no longer gives reliable enough answers. – No, they showed too great variations, says forest consultant for Statskog in Southern Norway, Rune Aamold. Because of climate change, newly planted forests threaten to grow up. Forest consultant in Southern Norway, Rune Aamold in Statskog. Now the country’s largest forest owner with 5.5 million acres of productive forest is checking. This amounts to approximately 6 percent. Photo: Stein S Eide / news Aamold says spruce weevils and climate change, which cause more drought, rain and frost, are killing more plants than before. Up to 20 percent of the plants die before they grow up. – It is especially the climate, which has changed and makes conditions more difficult. The departure varies from year to year and place to place, and is impossible to predict, says the forest consultant for Statskog in Southern Norway. Counted all over the country Therefore, for the first time, Norway’s largest forest owner has set about counting more precisely than ever how many spruce and pine plants have survived. It takes little for fir plants to die. More extreme weather or a jab or two from a spruce weevil, and the plant is dead. Photo: Stein S Eide / news This is now taking place in all Statskog forests throughout the country. It must happen before it becomes too green, so that it is easier to count the forest plants. – More hardy mushrooms It is SB Skog that does the counting job for Statskog. They have engaged students from forestry and field subjects at the University College to be out in the field in the South and the Interior. The general manager of SB Skog, Kenneth Langsethagen, says climate change is a challenge for new forests to grow up. General manager of SB Skog, Kenneth Langsethagen says the plants are confused by a lot of unfamiliar weather. Photo: Stein S Eide / news – The plants get confused when the weather is different. Frost is a problem. There have also been mushrooms that cope better with a changed climate. This means that the forest plants have more enemies than before. He therefore thinks it is good that Statskog checks the rejuvenation thoroughly. – Then you can make better use of the production. Record-breaking afforestation In recent years, afforestation in Norway has increased in scope. From around 20 million plants in 2010 to 43 million in the record year 2020. Forest owners are required by law to ensure rejuvenation after felling. Naturvernforbundet critical Head of the forest committee in the Naturvernforbundet, Gjermund Andersen, believes that large-scale afforestation is too one-sided. He believes we need more robust forests that can withstand climate change. – A small number of mother trees are selected which grow very quickly. The trees that are set out have a very narrow genetic background. Gjermund Andersen, head of the Norwegian Nature Conservancy’s forest committee. Photo: Roald Marker / news In a time of climate change that brings more wet snow, a lot of wind, a lot of drought and a lot of bark beetles, he believes that afforestation in Norway is a risky sport. – What we see from Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland is that very much of these uniform forests that have been planted out are failing because it is getting drier and warmer and there are more beetles. Varied forest important He is supported by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, professor at the Faculty of Environmental Science and Nature Management at the Norwegian University of Environmental and Life Sciences. – A more varied forest, with different tree species of different ages, will be more robust in the face of the changes of the climate crisis. She says the storm Gudrun, in 2005, showed us something interesting. – The extreme weather felled large areas of forest, especially in Sweden. But the damage was much greater in the homogeneous production forest than in natural or protected forest – three to four times greater. (these are Swedish results). It seems logical that a varied and multi-aged forest with local tree species can withstand more beating than a single-aged monoculture. This applies to both storms, drought and insect attacks. – That is why it is wise to make more arrangements for varied forests. It will be a win-win both for species diversity and for a more robust forest, not least when we know that climate change will increase the risk of both wind and heat, the professor believes. It requires a gradual conversion to a different forest management. The fight for the unique forests Must care for the forest We ask Rune Aamold, forest consultant for Statskog in Southern Norway: Is the forest you plant as resistant to climate change as the forest that naturally rejuvenates? – Both yes and no, the question is how we look after that forest later when it grows three and four meters high. If it is set too tightly, it will be exposed to buckling damage from snow loads. We have to restore the forest here for 15–20 years so that it can withstand the climatic challenges better, says Aamold. Forest worker Connie Johansen in SB Skog counts trees and reports back on the quality and necessary measures in Stensåsen in Løten in Innlandet. Photo: Stein S Eide / news Important job Statskog now wants to have better control to ensure that the next generations get quality timber. On the logging area far into the forest in Løten in Innlandet, Connie Johansen continues to count forest plants. If there are too few plants that have survived, she says no so that they can be planted again. – It is important to restore the forest that has been cut down, she says. If things go as they hope, the small bushes will become trees ready for felling in 60-80 years.
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Statskog counts for the first time all forest plants in the country that were planted in the record year 2020 – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
