Wood trade was not something that Markku Arve had been actively planning. However, when his neighbour mentioned that a harvester would soon be visiting his land, Arve came to think of the stand on his home estate. The trees there had been attacked by the spruce bark beetle, and Arve had been felling the trees gradually year after year. Now, he worried that the insect damage was getting worse.
“I asked my neighbour to tell Antti Lounaja, who was handling the wood trade, that if they needed any more wood, they could fell my trees at the same time.”
Soon after, Lounaja got in touch with Arve. In late February, the men visited the site together. They discussed the roadside where the trees could be delivered and agreed that Lounaja would file a forest use declaration with the Finnish Forest Centre.
Arve mentioned the spruce bark beetle. If the insects eat the inner bark, the tree’s fluid flows cease, and the tree gradually dries up. In this connection, the tree may be infested by blue stain fungi, which reduces the value of the sturdiest log to nothing more than firewood.
“I asked whether the felling could be carried out before Easter, and Antti said he would look into it.”
After the forest visit, Metsä Group’s latest Viesti magazine dropped through Arve’s letterbox. The magazine featured an article about Metsä Group Plus, a forest management model that pays increasingly close attention to forest biodiversity and forest nature. As explained in the article, Metsä Group would be paying an additional bonus of 300 euros for regeneration felling agreed in February–April and carried out in accordance with the Metsä Group Plus model.
“It piqued my interest, didn’t it? When you conduct business on a small scale, an additional bonus of 600 euros for two hectares is a big sum.”
In felling carried out according to the Metsä Group Plus model, the number of retention trees and high biodiversity stumps exceed the requirements of certification schemes. Retention trees are trees left in the forest permanently. They can grow, die and decay in the forest at their own pace. High biodiversity stumps are trees cut at a height of 2–4 metres to speed up the decaying process.
Retention trees and high biodiversity stumps introduce more decaying wood and nesting trees in forests for animals needing them. Around a quarter of the species living in Finnish forests depend on decaying wood.
In the Metsä Group Plus model, 30 retention trees with a diameter exceeding 15 centimetres are left per one hectare of regeneration area. The PEFC, the most common forest certification scheme in Finland, requires 20 such trees.
Under the Plus model, ten high biodiversity stumps are made per one hectare, compared to four made otherwise.
“I brought the matter up with Antti. He said he had also considered Metsä Group Plus for the site, as we had planned leaving pine there in any case.”
Harvesting began on 25 March at 7.30 pm, and it was handled by Metsä-Haliseva. On the morning of 28 March, Arve got a message in his phone saying the harvesting had been completed. In the summer, the site will be lightly prepared and then regenerated for pine and birch.
Arve’s first Metsä Group Plus felling was a positive experience. He says he was satisfied with both Metsä Group and Metsä-Haliseva.
“My thanks go to both Metsä Group’s forest specialists and the harvesting company’s supervisors and machine operators. Even though harvesting came at a short notice, it was organised really well. It was a pleasure to witness such seamless cooperation.”
Text Maria Latokartano
Photo Tomi Aho
This text was published in Metsä Group’s Viesti 2/2024.