Metsä Group wants to advance sustainable forestry and forest certification in its own operations. We also want to point the way in ecological sustainability and this is why Metsä Group’s Wood Supply and Forest Services have drawn up a programme of ecological sustainability. Below are examples of how the programme is reflected in our practical work.
Metsä Group Plus forest management model
Model will be introduced in June 2023. The voluntary model encourages forest owners to manage their forests more responsibly. It means more demanding care than forest certificates: for example more retention trees and high biodiversity stumps are left per hectare of forest during felling. To accelerate the creation of decaying wood and to secure the living conditions of species that inhabit burned environments, more retention trees will be burned. Metsä Group pays its owner-members a hectare based bonus for Metsä Group Plus wood to offset the costs for additional measures. Read more
We recommend nature management as a primary approach for herb-rich forests
From 2022 onwards, Metsä Group will review the herb-rich forests in forests owned by owner-members and intensify its guidance for the management of herb-rich forests. Our primary recommendation for herb-rich forests in commercial forests owned by owner-members is nature management and, for the best sites, voluntary conservation. Decisions about forest management are always made by the forest owner.
New generations of trees are planted as soon as possible
It does not pay off to delay the establishment of a new forest. For the efficient storage of carbon, the most important thing is to plant the new generation of trees as soon as possible. Improved forest reproductive material accelerates growth and partly enhances carbon storage as well. The tree species planted and sown in the forests are those that occur naturally in Finland: spruces, pines and birches. This ensures that the living conditions of other natural forest-dwelling species are retained. The particular species is always selected according to the growth location's nutrient content.