When I talk to forest owners, I’m sometimes asked why Metsä Group is steering forest use in a more ecological direction. Don’t forest owners know best how to manage their own forests? Do environmental organisations have too great a say in how forests are managed?
Of course, the owners’ interest is a key business driver for the company. It is equally obvious that to succeed in the market, we’d better listen to what our customers expect and demand from us.
Around 80 per cent of Metsä Group’s production is exported. When a Spanish or Greek paperboard producer looks out of their office window, they see a dried riverbed. Indeed, the amount of water used in the production process may be a decisive factor when they choose a paperboard supplier to provide raw material for their own production. While reducing the use of process water is not the number one sustainability priority in Finland, it may be of greater importance to the customer.
Meanwhile, in Central Europe, especially in mountainous regions, continuous cover forestry is more common than in Finland. It is therefore important for us to communicate to them that periodic cover forestry is mainstream in Finland because we do not have broadleaved trees growing in the shade, and that improving the vitality of our forests requires the cultivation of mixed forests and increasing the share of broadleaved trees in particular. Greater forest vitality cannot be achieved only by means of continuous cover forestry.
The customer is always right. This also applies to the customers of packaging material producers. The acceleration of climate change has increased awareness of the adverse impacts of using fossil-based raw materials. This encourages people to make more sustainable consumption choices. Responsible operators have switched from fossil-based packaging to packaging made from renewable raw materials.
However, renewable raw material alone is not enough – wood-based packaging must also be sustainably produced. Forest certification helps ensure this. If the customer wishes to purchase paperboard made from FSC-certified wood, the owners of Metsäliitto Cooperative must have enough FSC-certified forests. Otherwise, we are unable to serve this customer.
How about the owners? What do forest owners have to gain from this? Obviously, a significant benefit is that the company we own – Metsä Group – succeeds in the global market. Otherwise, we would be forced to reduce our production and curl up. This would jeopardise the owners’ profit distribution and member benefits, meaning the value of our holdings would decrease.
Another significantly greater advantage is securing the vitality of our members’ forests. The forest assets of Metsäliitto Cooperative’s owners are worth approximately EUR 30 billion. The company’s mission is to increase the value of these forest assets. By managing our forests according to the tenets of regenerative forestry, we can increase the vitality of our forest assets. Currently, around a third of wood trade is carried out in accordance with the Metsä Group Plus management model.
A diverse forest is a vibrant forest. By paying attention to natural values, we can demonstrate the sustainability of renewable raw material to our customers – and therefore to their customers, meaning ordinary consumers. At the same time, we can safeguard healthy high-yielding forests for future owner generations.
If the customer wishes to purchase paperboard made from FSC-certified wood, the owners of Metsäliitto Cooperative must have enough FSC-certified forests.
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