GRID-Arendal : State of the Environment Norway - Forest resources

Forest Resources

Forests and other wooded land cover approximately 37 per cent, or 119,000 km², of the Norwegian mainland. Of this, almost 23 per cent, or approximately 72,000 km² is regarded as productive forest.

The productive forest is distributed between 125,000 forest properties. About 79 per cent of the productive forest area is owned by private individuals.

Norwegian forests have been exploited intensively for export of roundwood, sawn timber and wood tar for hundreds of years. In addition, there is a long tradition of using the forests for domestic animal grazing and game hunting.

Today the forest is important first and foremost as a source of raw materials for sawmilling and pulp and paper industries.
The forest and the biological diversity in the forest, is of great value as an ecological resource and as an area of recreation. It should also be noted that standing forests imply net assimilation of vast amounts of CO2, thus reducing the greenhouse effect. Ecologically, it is crucial that the world’s forests do not shrink further.