The annual environmental audit of SCAs forestry shows that the company's nature consideration measures in general maintains a good standard. Nevertheless, shortcomings have been detected at the follow-up of external complaints from environmental organisations.
The total weighted assessment that has been done by the audit firm SGS, is that SCA is recommended for continued certification under the international forest certification programme FSC.
As a result of the deficiencies observed SGS, that carried out the environmental audits and followed up the complaints, has assigned SCA four “minor cars”. A minor car is the lower level of requirement for improvement. SCA has during the current fall adopted a series of measures in order to further enhance the quality of nature conservation in the company’s forestry. Among other efforts, four new positions for "Environmental Protection Specialists" in the field organization have been established and a new position for a “strategic environmental specialist” has been established at the central staff.
In addition, large inventories of nature conservation values in the company's forests will be made, with emphasis on the large areas of forest land that SCA voluntary has excluded from forestry in line with the FSC-standard.
SCA has, from nature conservation reasons, excluded more than 100 000 hectares of its productive forest land from forestry. In addition to this, some 50 000 hectares are managed with special methods and particular attention to local ecological values.