%0 Research article
%T Assessing the integrated climatic impacts of forestry and wood products
%A Pingoud, Kim
%A Pohjola, Johanna
%A Valsta, Lauri
%D 2010
%J Silva Fennica
%V 44
%N 1
%R doi:10.14214/sf.166
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/166
%X Managed forests serve as a store of carbon (C) and a renewable source of  energy and materials. By using forest products as substitutes for  fossil fuels or non-renewable materials, emissions from fossil C sources  can be displaced. The efficiency of emissions displacement depends on  the product, its lifecycle and the fossil-fuel based reference system  that is substituted. Forest management practices have an impact on C  stocks in biomass and on the annual supply of products and their mix.  There are trade-offs between sequestering C stocks in forests and the  climatic benefits obtained by sustainable forest harvesting and using  wood products to displace fossil C emissions. This article presents an  integrated, steady-state analysis comparing various equilibrium states  of managed forests and wood product pools that represent sustainable  long-term forestry and wood-use strategies. Two climatic indicators are  used: the combined C stock in forests and wood products and the fossil C  emissions displaced annually by harvested wood products. The study  indicates that long-term strategies could be available that are better  according to both indicators than forestry practices based on the  existing silvicultural guidelines in Finland. These strategies would  involve increasing the basal area and prolonging rotations to produce  more sawlogs. Further, the climate benefits appear to be highest in case  the sawlog supply is directed to production of long-lived materials  substituting for fossil-emission and energy intensive materials and  recycled after their useful life to bioenergy.