The greenhouse effect is one of our most severe current environmental problems. Forests make up large ecosystems and can play an important role in mitigating the emissions of CO 2 , the most important greenhouse gas. Different management regimes affect the ability of forests to sequester carbon. It is important to investigate in what way we best can use forests to mitigate the greenhouse effect. It is also important to study what effect different actions, done to increase carbon sequestration, have on other offsets from forestry, such as the harvest level, the availability of forest biofuel and economic factors.In this study, we present an optimization model for analysis of carbon sequestration in forest biomass and forest products at a local or regional scale. The model consists of an optimizing stand-level simulator, and the solution is found using linear programming. Carbon sequestration was accounted for in terms of carbon price and its value computed as a function of carbon price and the net carbon storage in the forest. The same price was used as a cost for carbon emission originating from deterioration of wood products.We carried out a case study for a 3.2 million hectare boreal forest region in northern Sweden. The result showed that 1.48-2.05 million tonnes of carbon per year was sequestered in the area, depending on what carbon price was used. We conclude that assigning carbon storage a monetary value and removal of carbon in forest products as a cost, increases carbon sequestration in the forest and decreases harvest levels. The effect was largest in areas with low site-quality classes.

Forests make up large ecosystems and by the uptake of carbon dioxide can play an important role in mitigating the greenhouse effect. In this study, mitigation of carbon emissions through carbon uptake and storage in forest biomass and the use of forest biofuel for fossil fuel substitution were considered. The analysis was performed for a 3.2 million hectare region in northern Sweden. The objective was to maximize net present value for harvested timber, biofuel production and carbon sequestration. A carbon price for build-up of carbon storage and for emissions from harvested forest products was introduced to achieve an economic value for carbon sequestration. Forest development was simulated using an optimizing stand-level planning model, and the solution for the whole region was found using linear programming. A range of carbon prices was used to study the effect on harvest levels and carbon sequestration. At a zero carbon price, the mean annual harvest level was 5.4 million m 3 , the mean annual carbon sequestration in forest biomass was 1.48 million tonnes and the mean annual replacement of carbon from fossil fuel with forest biofuel was 61 000 tonnes. Increasing the carbon price led to decreasing harvest levels of timber and decreasing harvest levels of forest biofuel. Also, thinning activities decreased more than clear-cut activities when the carbon prices increased. The level of carbon sequestration was governed by the harvest level and the site productivity. This led to varying results for different parts of the region.

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Climate change is expected to have substantial effects on many aspects of forest ecosystems, including timber production. Temperatures in northern Europe are expected to increase considerably, although there is substantial uncertainty about both the seasonal and average changes that will occur. In Scandinavia, production is predicted to increase across most of the area covered by boreal forest, since the growth of trees in the region is currently limited by temperature. Therefore, we have analyzed the importance of adapting management practices to future climate changes and considered possible ways to address associated stand management problems. For this purpose, we simulated climate scenarios with temperature increases ranging from 2.5 to 6.0°C over a 100-year period, and effects on typical Swedish stands with several species, then optimized their management with simulated annealing. The results indicate that the maximum considered temperature trend would raise the economic value of the stands by almost 5% more than the minimum trend. However, the importance of optimizing management plans in accordance with the correct temperature scenario appears to be limited. The plan optimized for the minimum temperature trend was only marginally inferior to the plan optimized for the maximum temperature trend in the maximum trend scenario, and vice versa. It also seemed adequate to use a deterministic formulation of the problem, and in cases where a stochastic climate change model generated more robust plans, the advantage could be attributed to model artifacts rather than climate change per se.