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STOCKHOLM, June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SCA has published on its website a digital map of the company's forests voluntarily set-aside for nature conservation. This is forests that SCA has voluntarily exempted from forest management due to its high conservation values. The areas include forests that are managed with adapted methods to improve conditions for biodiversity and also SCA's own conservation parks.

In total, more than 166,000 hectares, or 8% of SCA's productive forest land, is completely exempt from forest management and a further 59,000 hectares is managed with adapted methods with a particular focus on creating the best possible conditions for the forest's flora and fauna. 

SCA owns 2,600,000 hectares of forest, an area almost the size of Belgium. These forests are inventoried to identify areas with high conservation values and to ensure that areas important for forest biodiversity are protected. Additional forest areas are managed to improve conditions for sensitive animal and plant species. This may involve controlled burning of forest areas or encouraging broad-leaved forest to dominate.

Special consideration is given to nature conservation even in forests that are harvested for timber. Last year, 12% of the forest in the harvested areas was left alone to provide living space for all of the forest's flora and fauna. 

"One in five trees are left to live and die a natural death to provide life environments for all living things in the forest," says Jonas Mårtensson, President of the Forest business area. "This map will make it easy for everyone to share in the diversity and conservation values that are present in our forests.

In the digital map, forest age, the main tree species and the most common type of ground vegetation are stipulated for areas that SCA has exempted from forest management, as well as areas that are managed with adapted methods.  

SCA continuously conducts set-asides of new forest, which means the map will be updated on an ongoing basis. Areas with lower conservation values may be replaced by areas with higher values. 

The map also highlights SCA's five conservation parks. These areas consist of several thousand hectares with high nature conservation and cultural values, where SCA conducts special measures to maintain these values and to make them easily accessible to visitors.

Link to map:
https://www.sca.com/en/about-us/our-forest/discovering-the-gems-in-our-forests2/ 

The core of SCA's business is the forest, Europe's largest private forest holding. Around this unique resource, we have built a well-developed value chain based on renewable raw material from our own and others' forests.

We offer paper for packaging and print, pulp, wood products, renewable energy, services for forest owners and efficient transport solutions.

In 2018, the forest products company SCA had approximately 4,000 employees and sales amounted to approximately SEK 18.8bn (EUR 1.8bn). 

SCA was founded in 1929 and has its headquarters in Sundsvall, Sweden. For more information, visit www.sca.com

For further information, please contact:
Björn Lyngfelt,
SVP Communications,
Tel: +46-60-19-34-98

Jonas Mårtensson,
President Forest,
Tel: +46-60-19-32-58

Ola Kårén,
Chief Forester,
Tel. +46-60-19-33-83

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https://news.cision.com/sca/r/sca-publishes-map-of-nature-conservation-areas,c2851835

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SOURCE SCA