Metsä Group and the Utsjoki jointly owned forest have updated their wood trade, which had been suspended after Metsä Group reviewed its harvesting policies in 2022 and after the jointly owned forest directed some of the wood trade sites for conservation.
Metsä Group and the Utsjoki jointly owned forest have assessed the further measures for the areas remaining in the contract. Harvesting will continue in commercial forests, but 75 hectares, which is a significant part of the area, will be completely excluded from harvesting.
“The Utsjoki jointly owned forest has protected a significant portion of its areas in recent years, and further implementation is currently being planned,” says Veikko Porsanger, Chair of the Utsjoki jointly owned forest. “We have also prepared a forest plan for the area, which takes reindeer husbandry and whose instructions are followed in felling into account.”
Felling is carried out according to plans in the commercial forest. Felling of commercial forests will be carried out in the winter of 2026 as seed-tree cutting, removal of hold-overs and selection cutting. The measures are aimed at the trees above the seedling, thereby freeing up growing space for the remaining trees in the future. For example, biodiversity is safeguarded during harvesting by retaining all dead trees and decayed wood, as well as groups of retention trees around them. Known endangered species are taken into account through groups of retention trees, and by conserving dead trees and trees abundant with arboreal lichens.
“We have carefully reviewed the areas and their special features on-site so that harvesting can be carried out with nature values in mind. The area has a clear processing history – that is, it’s a forest that has been in commercial use for a long time, and where felling and regeneration have been carried out in the past,” says Juho Rantala, SVP, Wood Trade and Forest Services at Metsä Group.
Felling will take place over a total area of approximately 214 hectares. The operations have been planned in cooperation with the local reindeer herding cooperatives.