The first rays of dawn are barely visible on the horizon when Mika Peltoniemi begins his workday. Today, he will be working on a felling site in the village of Nykälä, on the border of Pieksämäki and Kangasniemi, where a first thinning is to be carried out.
After starting up the Ponsse Scorpion, Peltoniemi reads the site’s harvesting instructions. It turns out that one side of the mixed forest of birch and spruce is bordered by a herb-rich hardwood-spruce swamp, and a stream follows the other side of the felling site.
Both the herb-rich hardwood-spruce swamp and the stream are nature sites, that is, areas important for safeguarding and increasing biodiversity, with properties distinguishing them from the surrounding forest nature.
“Natural herb-rich hardwood-spruce swamps and streams are particularly important habitats under section 10 of the Forest Act, while other sites such as hardwood forests and sunlit slopes of ridge forests come under the scope of the Nature Conservation Act. The provisions of these acts determine how the sites are taken into account in forest management,” says Silja Pitkänen Arte, Metsä Group’s Sustainability Manager.
PEFC and FSC® certifications also define habitats that must be safeguarded in forest management, either by excluding them from use or by maintaining their characteristics. In habitats included in the METSO and Helmi programmes, restrictions on use are based on voluntary agreements that forest owners conclude with the authorities.
For nature sites to be taken into account, geospatial information about them is required.
“In Finland, geospatial data concerning nature sites is managed by statutory organisations such as the Finnish Forest Centre and regional ELY Centres. In addition, the Finnish Biodiversity Info Facility provides organisations with information about the occurrence of different species. We also use the nature information in our own forest information system,” says Mikko Lumperoinen, Metsä Group’s Development Manager in charge of forest data management and planning.
The location of nature sites is confirmed in the field
In connection with wood trade, a forest use declaration is submitted to the Finnish Forest Centre. Metsä Group usually handles this on the forest owner’s behalf. Based on the declaration, Metsäkeskus checks whether the site is home to any nature sites that must be taken into account in forest management under the Forest Act.
If a site or species protected under the Nature Conservation Act is found in the area or its vicinity, the Forest Centre forwards the forest use declaration to the local ELY Centre, which monitors compliance with the Nature Conservation Act. The ELY Centre reviews the forest use declaration and provides instructions for taking the protected nature site into account if required.
“Effective communication among the authorities, the holder of the felling right – that is, Metsä Group – and the forest owner is essential for nature sites,” Lumperoinen says.
After the authorities have provided instructions, a forest specialist from Metsä Group plans the felling site in the forest. An actual visit to the forest is necessary because the exact location of nature sites sometimes differs from that indicated by geospatial data.
The forest specialist marks the nature sites requiring attention in the forest using red-and-yellow ribbon and prepares harvesting instructions that include all the necessary information about the felling site’s nature sites, and how they must be taken into account.
“The instructions must be so clear that the harvester operator knows exactly what to do based on them,” says Marko Yläjärvi, Metsä Group’s Production Manager.
The harvesting instructions are transferred electronically to the Woodforce system, a planning tool common in the forest industry, which is used by Metsä Group’s harvesting contractors. After this, the felling site is ready for the contractor. This process ensures that the harvester operator gets the necessary information before harvesting begins.
“Woodforce is a reliable system that has been used for a long time, so information transmission does not involve any risks,” Yläjärvi says.
Training in nature sites
The harvesting planner has great responsibility in ensuring that nature sites are taken into account, but the forest machine operator must also be professional. To ensure this, Metsä Group requires its contract entrepreneurs and their operators to complete specific courses.
“To work for us, you must complete an online course on certification requirements, for example. The completed course shows up in our system, enabling us to ensure that our operators have up-to-date training and the required competence,” Yläjärvi says.
In addition to online courses, Metsä Group organises training in the field.
How a nature site is taken into account depends on the site’s specific characteristics. Many nature sites are excluded from forestry, but in some cases, biodiversity is promoted through forest management measures.
For example, the proliferation of spruce in herb-rich forests is prevented by making space for deciduous trees and bushes. On sunlit slopes, biodiversity is supported by making the site more open through felling and by breaking the soil.
“Paying attention to nature sites does not necessarily mean that the sites are completely excluded from forest management, or that the restrictions are drastic,” Pitkänen-Arte says.
According to Pitkänen-Arte, the Metsä Group Plus service is ideal for situations in which there is a need and desire to protect forest nature more extensively than the minimum required by legislation or certification requirements.
In addition to automation, the operator’s expertise is required
The Ponsse machine operated by Peltoniemi has a GPS tracking system that allows him to monitor the machine’s location on the map in real time. As he approaches the nature site, the system alerts him automatically. Moreover, the harvester head is equipped with a precision positioning device, which tells the operator the location of the clamp down to a few centimetres.
“The GPS system facilitates many things but is susceptible to interference, which undermines its reliability. If you have misgivings about the results provided by technology, you can always rely on the markings in the forest,” Peltoniemi says.
Even though the sites are marked in the forest, Peltoniemi keeps his eyes open. A sudden change in the landscape may be a sign of nature values.
“If your basic heath forest turns into a moist hollow, or if the forest has more decaying wood than usual, alarm bells should ring for the operator. Even if there’s nothing on the map, you must leave the cabin to check the situation.”
Both Metsä Group and Peltoniemi’s employer, Veljekset Hokkanen Oy, have instructed their operators to contact the felling site planner or operations specialist whenever they have doubts about a site.
“You don’t need to puzzle over it alone.”
Open about mistakes
When the harvest has been completed, the company responsible for it carries out a final inspection on the felling site, checking that the nature sites have been taken into account as instructed. In addition to the contractors’ self-monitoring, inspections are carried out by Metsä Group’s own experts and third-party experts in connection with certification audits, for example.
According to statistics, nature sites are taken into account excellently on Metsä Group’s sites. The company carries out around 30,000 wood purchases every year, and in the last five years, only 20 or so cases have emerged in which a nature site protected by law may have been damaged during felling.
“Even if everyone in the chain does their best, the human factor cannot be completely eliminated. Geospatial data does not exist for all nature sites, and a site sometimes goes undetected during planning. However, Metsä Group has a strong culture of openness. When we notice an error, we immediately report it to the authorities, try to find the root cause, and correct our process so that it does not happen again,” Pitkänen-Arte says.
As proof that Metsä Group takes these things seriously, the company will be implementing a compensation principle for cases in which a nature site protected by law is damaged during work.
According to Metsä Group’s policy, if a suspected breach of law related to the management of nature sites is detected during harvesting, or if audits reveal a deviation from the forest certification guidelines, this is openly reported on the company’s website. In an audit, an external assessor determines whether harvesting and other operations comply with certification requirements.
Peltoniemi, who has worked in harvesting for more than 20 years, has noticed that both experts and forest owners increasingly recognise the importance of forest nature values.
“When I started this work in the early 2000s, key biotopes weren’t a frequent topic, but nowadays, they’re discussed more and more every year.”
Text Maria Latokartano
Photo Mikko Kankainen, Mika Ankkuri
This article was originally published in Metsä Group’s Viesti magazine 4/2024.
Metsäliitto Cooperative's PEFC logo license: PEFC/02-31-03
Logo license of Metsäliitto Cooperative's FSC group certification: FSC-C111942
