SCA’s pine of the future

The plan is for the seed orchard to begin supplying seedlings to Swedish forests sometime after 2030.

“This has the potential to significantly increase carbon storage in Swedish forests while also giving us greater confidence in our ability to cope with future climate conditions,” says Ola Kårén, Chief Forester at SCA.

SCA has been working for several years to establish a new pine seed orchard that has now begun producing cones. Through SCA’s nursery operations, Norrplant, trees with desirable traits are selected through natural processes to improve future generations.

As a result, the latest pine seed orchard contains parent trees with the best potential for strong growth and enhanced resistance to warmer conditions.

“When you work with a time horizon of up to 100 years, you want to ensure as far as possible that what we plant today will also thrive several decades from now. That is why we are actively working to develop the best planting material that nature can offer,” says Ola Kårén.

Compared with a mature pine tree currently found in Swedish forests, seeds from SCA’s new seed orchard are expected to increase growth performance by approximately 30 percent. This represents a substantial improvement over previous generations of improved pine seedlings.

SCA's Chief Forester Ola Kårén, showing the new seedlings.

“When you work with a time horizon of up to 100 years, you want to ensure as far as possible that what we plant today will also thrive several decades from now. That is why we are actively working to develop the best planting material that nature can offer,” says Ola Kårén.

Compared with a mature pine tree currently found in Swedish forests, seeds from SCA’s new seed orchard are expected to increase growth performance by approximately 30 percent. This represents a substantial improvement over previous generations of improved pine seedlings.

“It is a bit like moving from an old rusty Saab to a modern electric car. Both essentially serve the same purpose, but the new generation performs the same task better and more efficiently. In practice, this means that the climate performance of every site we plant will improve significantly,” says Ola Kårén.

Planting has long been the most effective and reliable way to establish new forests after harvesting. As the performance of planting material improves, the advantage of planting over relying on natural regeneration becomes even greater.

Today’s forests, many of which were established using earlier generations of improved seedlings, absorb more carbon dioxide than Sweden emits. That is positive, but we do not know exactly how resilient these forests will be if temperatures rise further.

“What we are doing now is developing a seedling that ensures every harvest and replanting cycle results in greater carbon storage and stronger resilience for the future,” says Ola Kårén.