Did you know that the timber from Norra Timber has a very special history? It comes from forests that have been nurtured by northern Swedish families for generations – forest owners who are members of Norra Skog, spread across the landscapes of Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Lappland, Ångermanland, Medelpad, and Jämtland.
Norra Skog has its roots in the 1920s northern Swedish forestry movement, when private forest owners began to organize to gain influence over timber prices, floating, and marketing. It was a time when forestry companies dominated, and small forest owners had no voice. Through cooperation, associations grew – first locally, then regionally – and laid the foundation for today’s Norra Skog.
“It’s a story of persistence, community, and the desire to take responsibility for one’s own forest,” says Patrik Jonsson, Director of the Forest and Timber department at Norra Skog.
Being a member of Norra Skog means access to professional advice, assistance with the execution of forestry services, financial benefits, and a policy influence that strengthens members’ voices in forestry issues. It’s a membership that provides security, knowledge, and the opportunity to develop forestry on one’s own terms.
“Nowhere else in the world has family forestry played such a decisive role in the development of a country’s forestry and forest industry as it has in Sweden,” says Patrik Jonsson.
And northern family forestry is still characterized by long-term thinking, care, and respect for nature. Thanks to the many different people with different goals managing their forests, we get a diversity of forest types that benefit biodiversity and contribute to sustainable forestry. Active management also creates jobs and enables life in rural areas – where the forest is both livelihood and lifestyle.
And the timber? It’s something truly special. In northern Sweden, trees grow slowly, often for up to a hundred years. The cold climate produces dense growth rings, making the timber hard, dimensionally stable, and durable.
“The result is a raw material that is healthy, strong, and consistently high-quality over time. Slow-growing pine and spruce from Norrland are considered some of the world’s most prestigious wood raw materials – and that’s exactly what you get when you choose Norra Timber,” says Patrik Jonsson.