SLU news
The road to more broadleaves
Published: 18 May 2022
A record-breaking investment in fast-growing broadleaf trees has been made. Today almost all trees planted are Norway spruce or Scots pine. The goal is for 10 percent of new planting to be broadleaves.
“Most of all, we hope for improved birches. they are already competitive with spruce in some locations. With new methods to speed up genetic
improvement, we can produce birches that grow 50 percent faster than the best unimproved trees,” says Professor Urban Nilsson.
To take advantage of these opportunities, a lot of new knowledge is required, from planting, processing and forest management to "nished products.
A centre of competence for fast-growing broadleaves is being built from a record-breaking research project funded from the Swedish Energy Agency over five years.
The project, headquartered in Alnarp, is called TFM (Trees For Me). Beyond SLU, participants include Luleå Technical University, the Swedish forest research agency Skogforsk, Umeå University and Uppsala University. In addition, 45 co-financers participate in the project, from local nature protection associations to large forestry firms.
About 20 researchers are involved in the work and recruitment of PhD students is in full swing. Together with a postdoc 14 posts will be filled.