The hurricane that hit Scandinavia on 8th January was equally disastrous for forests in Denmark as for those in Southern Sweden.
The hurricane felled 2 million cubic meters of timber, which represents a little more than total annual felling in Denmark.
The damage occurred in Northern Jutland. The great majority of fallen timber is coniferous wood. Most of the fallen forest will presumably be replanted with deciduous trees, in particular with oak. The general Danish forestry policy is to increase the area of deciduous forest and thereby to improve forest stability and biodiversity. However, it is considerably more expensive for forest owners to plant deciduous than coniferous trees. The price difference will now be paid out of public funds when replanting must be made after the storm damage. The purpose is to increase the area of robust and varied deciduous forest for the benefit of society as a whole.