%0 Research article
%T The role of peatlands in Finnish wood production – an analysis based on large-scale forest scenario modelling
%A Nuutinen, Tuula
%A Hirvelä, Hannu
%A Hynynen, Jari
%A Härkönen, Kari
%A Hökkä, Hannu
%A Korhonen, Kari T.
%A Salminen, Olli
%D 2000
%J Silva Fennica
%V 34
%N 2
%R doi:10.14214/sf.636
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/636
%X Using the Finnish MELA model, a set of scenarios were produced and used  to map the possibilities and risks surrounding the utilisation of  peatlands in wood production in Finland. One of the scenarios was an  estimate of allowable-cut calculated by maximising the net present value  of the future revenues using a four per cent interest rate subject to  non-decreasing flow of wood, saw logs and net income over a 50-year  period, and net present value after the 50 year period greater or equal  than in the beginning. The estimate for maximum regionally sustained  removal in 1996–2005 was 68 million m3 per year – approaching 74 million  m3 during the next decades. In this scenario, 14 per cent of all  cuttings during the period 1996–2005 would be made on peatlands, which  comprise ca. 31 per cent of the total area of forestry land. By the year  2025, the proportion of peatland cuttings would increase to over 20 per  cent. The increase in future cutting possibilities on peatlands  compensated for a temporary decrease in cuttings and growing stock on  mineral soils. The allowable-cut effect was especially pronounced in  northern Finland, where peatlands play an important role in wood  production. In addition, the sensitivity of cutting possibilities for  assumptions related to growth and price were analysed. The estimate of  maximum sustainable yield as defined here seems to be fairly robust on  the whole, except in northern Finland where the cutting scenarios were  sensitive to the changes in the price of birch pulpwood. The proportion  of peatland stands that are profitable for timber production depends on  the interest rate: the higher the rate of interest the less peatland  stands are thinned. The effect of cutting profile on future logging  conditions and resulting costs were analysed in two forestry centres. If  clear cuttings on mineral soils are to be cut first, an increase in  future logging costs is inevitable.