Strong net income for the forest owner from the very first selective harvest

Pine forest after harvesting with centered selective logging (centrerad plockhuggning).

On the property in Sund, a total of 16 hectares were harvested across three different compartments (avdelningar). One compartment was 2.5 hectares of even-aged pine. Another was 3 hectares of partially layered pine with elements of spruce and birch. The third was a 10-hectare multi-layer stand dominated by spruce. The assignment was successful, and now that the timber has been measured and sold, we can conclude that the forest owner’s income after harvesting costs was just over SEK 850,000—equivalent to just over SEK 53,000 per hectare. In total, 1,386 m3fub were harvested, with sawlogs making up 68%. The harvest was designed to optimize future growth in the stands, which meant a larger removal in the pine stand and a smaller one in the spruce stand. The forest owner still has a standing volume of just over 2,700 m3sk. A new harvest will be carried out in about 10 years.

Multi-layer spruce forest (with some broadleaves) after harvesting with centered selective logging (centrerad plockhuggning).

The harvest was carried out according to the Hyggligt concept using the method centered selective logging (centrerad plockhuggning). Our planning process means the forest owner and Hyggligt jointly identify a stand that’s ready to be harvested. The stand is then scanned with a LiDAR-equipped drone, and the flight data is analyzed. An optimization algorithm selects the trees that are optimal to harvest, considering both economics and future growth. We then provide a visualization that helps the harvester operator identify the trees to be cut.

We hope these results help even more forest owners see the benefits of continuous-cover forestry (hyggesfritt skogsbruk). Our method makes management simple and can support the entire chain—from stand selection to timber sales.