Metsä Group is one of the largest forest industry operators in Finland. Therefore, we consider it especially important that our operations are based on sustainable forest management and use. We procure wood from commercial forests in northern Europe. We do not procure wood from old-growth forests, forests defined as natural forests, or forests that are or should be protected, as explained by Jani Riissanen, SVP, Wood Trade and Forest Services at Metsä Group.
“We continue to improve our operations. The regenerative forestry principles that we developed and implemented are one example of this.”
The regenerative forestry principles aim to ensure that the state of forest nature will improve by 2030 and that the change can be measurably verified. The principles are implemented through various measures as part of Metsä Group’s daily work in Finnish forests. With its funding scheme for nature programmes, the company also funds projects that improve biodiversity and the state of waters outside commercial forests.
Standing sales account for most wood purchases, and the wood that is purchased is certified
Metsä Group annually concludes around 30,000 wood trade purchases and buys most of its wood through standing sales. In standing sales, the forest owner contacts Metsä Group’s local forest specialist and agrees a visit to the estate. Today, these visits largely focus on safety matters and nature sites. The forest owner then receives an offer on wood trade and any management work. After the offer is approved, the wood trade agreement can be concluded. Then, Metsä Group files a forest use declaration and takes care of any other required permits with the authorities. The trees are harvested at the latest within 2‒3 years of the agreement being concluded, after which we send a measurement certificate of the final wood volume.
Forest harvesting is guided by legislation, official guidelines and the requirements of forest certification schemes. We are committed to complying with official recommendations on the width of buffer zones, for example. Metsä Group also has its own additional guidelines related to regenerative forestry, which are even more ambitious than certification schemes as regards forest nature management. For example, the Metsä Group Plus management model, launched in 2023, raises the level of forest nature management above current certification schemes. In early 2024, around a third of wood trade was concluded in accordance with the Metsä Group Plus model.
In the first half of 2024, around 98 per cent of the wood that Metsä Group purchased from private forests was certified in accordance with the PEFC or FSC® scheme, or both. Metsä Group aims to only buy certified wood from private forests.
“In the very few non-certified forests where we harvest wood, we also comply with the certification schemes,” Riissanen says.
Metsä Group’s focus on forest nature management also affects the personnel. Since spring 2024, the company’s forest nature management specialists have been supporting other employees in matters such as providing environmental training, identifying sites covered by legislation, handling the process for joining certification schemes, planning management for Metsä Group Plus sites and herb-rich forests, promoting METSO conservation projects, planning water protection measures for forestry, and preparing applications for environmental subsidies.
Cooperation with the authorities and harvesting contractors is important
When wood trade is concluded through standing sales, the buyer – in this case, Metsä Group – is fully responsible for felling. In practice, harvesting and transport are handled by professional contractors. Overall, Metsä Group has more than 100 harvesting contractors, who employ around 2,000 people across Finland. Good harvesting quality in the forest is important to all parties.
Before harvesting begins, Metsä Group’s forest specialist files a forest use declaration with the Finnish Forest Centre. If required, the Forest Centre forwards the declaration to the appropriate ELY Centre for more detailed guidelines. For example, this is the case when special nature values are involved. The authorities’ guidelines are submitted to the harvesting contractors and added to the information contained in the system. In addition to a forest use declaration, felling in areas covered by zoning may also require a permit for landscape work under the Land Use and Building Act.
Harvesting is carried out within the period agreed in the wood trade agreement. When exactly felling begins depends on the harvesting conditions, harvesting equipment resources, wood reserves and wood use at our mills.
Metsä Group’s forest specialist plans harvesting and the wood storage location and chooses a route for transporting the wood to the storage location. The forest specialist records all the felling site’s special features, such as any nature sites, in the harvesting guidelines. These are also displayed as separate map entries in the digital map used by both the harvester and forwarder operator. The maps also provide information about protected areas, waterbodies and their buffer zones, and endangered species. Metsä Group gets comprehensive geographic datasets concerning endangered or protected species from the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility so that these can be taken into account when planning wood trade.
The harvester operator plans the detailed work process in the forest and decides the exact location of the harvester’s and forwarder’s tracks. The operator takes into account the nature values, growing stock, terrain, land carrying capacity, weather conditions and any other special features of the felling site.
Metsä Group has increased its quality and environmental inspections in recent years. In 2023, the company’s own personnel conducted more than 2,000 inspections across Finland. In addition, Metsä Group monitors the inspections conducted by its contractors and uses external assessments conducted by Tapio, a provider of forestry advisory and consulting services. Positive development has been seen in recent years. Inspections help ensure compliance with the law, official recommendations, certification criteria and Metsä Group’s operating guidelines.
“In the long planning chain involved in harvesting, the machine operator is the last and extremely important link. If the operator observes something on the felling site that deviates from the plan, they are responsible for suspending operations and contacting Metsä Group. As machine operators play a key role, their training is especially important. Training takes place alongside other daily routines,” says Hannu Alarautalahti, SVP, Production, Metsä Group Wood Supply and Forest Services.
The operators complete the courses prepared by Metsä Group that discuss nature site-related instructions, including statutory requirements, official guidelines, certification requirements, and buffer zones around waterbodies. The systems for communicating information are designed so as to relieve the operator from carrying sole responsibility for observing nature sites. Before initiating harvesting, the harvester and forwarder operators must confirm they have read the instructions. The system requires separate acknowledgement of nature sites. Alerts when approaching nature sites can also be enabled in the machines’ systems.
Practical harvesting in the forest is carried out in two stages. First, the harvester operator fells the trees, lops the branches, and cuts the trunks into logs and pulpwood logs. They also grade them in the forest next to the track, where the forwarder operator picks them up. The harvester operator places some of the tops and branches over the tracks. This protects the terrain and tree roots from damage caused by the machine.
Then, the forwarder operator collects the trees and transports them to the side of the forest road where they sort the different wood grades into separate piles. The trees are picked up and transported to the mills by timber lorry. Wood from a single felling site is typically transported to many different mills.
What happens if mistakes are detected?
As the number of annual wood purchases amounts to tens of thousands, it is impossible to avoid all mistakes – despite the extensive datasets and modern systems used in harvesting. Mistakes may be caused by inadequate map entries or human errors, for example.
In its operations, Metsä Group annually observes individual mistakes related to nature sites. Some of them are pointed out by a machine operator, while others are detected in inspections carried out by the company or the authorities.
“If we notice a mistake, we always report it at our own initiative to the authorities. We take mistakes very seriously and monitor them internally. Any failure to comply with the company’s guidelines is addressed. If the mistake is intentional, it may lead to the employment or partner relationship being terminated,” Alarautalahti says.
There is still room for development: map data must be made more comprehensive and the automation of information flow between the authorities and other parties must be improved.
“The better and more automatically information about nature sites is transferred between different systems, the smaller the risk of mistakes. We shouldn’t need to rely on individual emails. We are looking forward to continued good joint development work with the authorities in this field. In recent years, environmental matters have taken centre stage in the planning of wood harvesting, and I consider that a very positive trend,” Alarautalahti says.
Metsäliitto Cooperative's PEFC logo license: PEFC/02-31-03
Logo license of Metsäliitto Cooperative's FSC group certification: FSC-C111942