WWF blasts Sweden, Finland over logging practices

GLAND, Switzerland

Sweden and Finland, Europe's most forested countries, are not doing enough to protect their primary and old-growth forests, falling short of EU commitments, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a report on Thursday.

"Thousands of hectares of forests with high conservation value are logged each year, despite their importance for climate stability, biodiversity, and long-term ecological health," said the WWF.

The two Nordic countries are "exploiting loopholes to allow logging in forests that should be safeguarded," the organization said in a statement.

Private forest owners insist they are complying with current legislation and that their felling of trees is sensible.

"Nobody cuts down trees just for the fun of it," Magnus Kindbom, forestry director at the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), told AFP.

"It's because there's a need in society. And if we didn't use wood products, which have no negative impact on the climate, then we would have to use more fossil fuels, which always have a negative impact on the climate," he added.

"That's the dilemma we face: How to find the best compromise between having access to more biomass to improve the climate, and understanding its impact on biodiversity."

In Sweden, the forestry industry accounts for around 140,000 jobs, according to the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, which represents companies in the pulp, paper and wood-processing industries.

At the same time, forests, the second largest carbon sink after the oceans, help mitigate climate change, which for the WWF underlines the importance of preserving them.