As an important part of SCA's sustainability work and aligned with forestry regulations, biodiversity conservation is addressed on all SCAs forest land, i.e. set-aside productive forest land, forests managed specifically for conservation values, land under regular management for timber and conservation values, as well as low-productive land.
SCA has made an in-depth analysis of the 2020 Swedish Red List of threatened species and associated databases to determine which species are threatened and dependent on suitable habitats on SCAs land. 203 threatened species were identified as a Species Commitment for SCA, for which specific efforts to preserve and develop habitats should be made.
Current conservation status on SCAs land were evaluated with respect to the identified habitat categories. In total 400,000 hectares of critical habitats were confirmed within set-aside areas identified at the landscape level and on low-productive land. In 2020, 10% of the area planned for harvesting was set-aside, further preserving critical habitats and structures in the managed forest.
SCA's next steps:
- include reinforcing conservation measures in corporate forest operations
- further enhancing the underlying knowledge base
- improving monitoring and evaluation
- establishing partnerships for mutual learning and continued methodology development
