International Preparedness Project on Forest Damage Launched

An international forest damage preparedness project was launched at the beginning of September 2026. The project, Business-oriented Action Plan for Sudden Large-scale Forest Damages (SLFD), addresses climate change and the increasing risk of sudden, large-scale forest damage in the Interreg Aurora region covering Finland and Sweden.

The topic is both current and important. According to a recent report published by the Finnish Forest Centre during the summer, the regions of Western Finland have experienced the highest levels of storm damage in recent years.

The objective of the SLFD project is to improve preparedness for extensive and sudden forest damage through cross-border cooperation between Finland and Sweden. The project focuses especially on situations where large-scale forest damage has already occurred.

In this context, large-scale forest damage refers to an event that disrupts timber markets at the regional level. In other words, the project does not focus on managing damage within a single forest property or a limited number of holdings; rather, the damage must have broader impacts on torestry.

Within the project, authorities, research organizations, and forestry sector stakeholders work together while taking ecological, social, and economic sustainability into account. The cooperation will result in a joint action plan for managing and responding to large-scale forest damage.

The project will develop sustainable forest management models and value chains while strengthening cross-border cooperation and sustainable development across the Interreg Aurora region in Finland and Sweden. Cross-border collaboration is an essential part of the project. In addition, consulting forestry practitioners and other stakeholders is an important part in the preparing of the preparedness plans.

Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SEAMK) coordinates the SLFD project. The Finnish Forest Centre acts as the national project partner in the regions of South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, and the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia region. The Swedish partners are the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen), which is the equivalent of the Finnish Forest Centre, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Västerbotten is the project area on the Swedish side.

The project is primarily funded by the EU Interreg Aurora Program. Region Västerbotten and the Regional Council of Lapland provide national co-financing. In addition, the project partners contribute their own funding to the project.

The total project budget is €999,740, of which €649,381 is provided by the EU Interreg Aurora Program. The funding allocated to Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences amounts to €218,400.

For more information:

Risto Lauhanen, Project Manager
Tel. +358 40 830 4150

Kari Laasasenaho, Deputy Project Manager
Tel. +358 40 680 7631