Finnish forest
Forests are an important natural resource for Finns that have generated well-being for society for decades. Family forestry is a typical and unique feature of forest management in Finland. It dates back to the forestry policy of the 1920s. Back then, crofters – tenant farmers on large estates – were granted ownership of the land they had been cultivating and the forests they had been managing.
Of the wood that Metsä Group uses, 80 per cent is sourced from Finnish forests, mostly from those of the nearly 100,000 owner-members of Metsäliitto Cooperative. Owner-members bring continuity and a long-term perspective to our operations. Through the cooperative, we have access to large volumes of high-quality northern wood, which we use as efficiently as possible in the different stages of the wood value chain.
We provide the owner-members of the cooperative with a diverse range of opportunities for profitable, environmentally sound forest management. In Finland, each tree felled is replaced with four new saplings in the forest. Wood supply tracking systems enable us to trace each batch of wood all the way to the stump. We support PEFC and FSC certification. According to calculations, forest growth in Finland is 40 per cent higher than the use of forest resources.
Northern wood
Finland is located in a climate zone that has frosty winters and warm summers. As summers last for just 100 days, it may take 60–120 years for a Finnish tree to reach its full height. As a result of the short growing season, Finnish trees have special qualities. Metsä Group has extensive expertise to make use of these qualities.