The forest industry in Halland

Halland consists of 313 000 hectare (773 500 acres) of forest land. The forest- and wood industry account for three percent of the total employment within the region. There is also a strong tourism and organized outdoor life connected to the Halland forest.

Halland has a world-class forest industry with the potential to create and take advantage of innovations to strengthen the development of a carbon-neutral economy and sustainable resource management.

There is a great diversity in the ownership of the forest. A high local ownership means committed forest owners and creates conditions for a varied forestry with a high level of activity and development.

Proportion of different tree species in Halland (2017):

• Pine tree 18,2 percent – country 39,4 percent
• Fir tree 52 percent – country 40,7 percent
• Birch tree 11,7 percent – country 12,3 percent
• Oak tree 5,9 percent – country 1,2 percent
• Beech tree 6,2 percent – country 0,6 percent
• Al tree 3,0 percent – country 1,7 percent
• Others 2,9 percent – country 4 percent

How we explore the forest as a raw material.

The opportunities of using the forest as a circular raw material is constantly beeing explored. Since the forests in Halland has a high local ownership there are several comitted actors that collaborate with different focuses within the area of New Materials.

Circular use of raw material

Recycling and reuse of wood raw materials and wood products need to be developed to increase the forest’s contribution to a circular bio-economy.

Within the region there are innovation platforms specialized in developing and realising sustainable solutions within materials, products and technology solutions. Yangi and OnceMore by Södra are two interesting new materials that are both related to Halland.

Wood as a building material

The forest’s ability to bind carbon can be used to reduce the construction sector’s negative climate impact. Also, an increasing use of wood as a building material enables the possibility to replace fossil materials and products within by-products.

In Halland players within the entire construction industry’s value chain are cooperating to strengthen the market’s knowledge and capacity to build a higher proportion of multi-storey wooden houses. There are several interesting projects.

Want to talk about investment possibilities or forests in Halland? Get in touch here.