It is in Metsä Group’s and its owner-members’ shared interest that Finnish forests continuously improve their vitality and biodiversity. To achieve this goal, Metsä Group publicly announced its commitment to the principles of regenerative forestry in March.
The principles define the kinds of measures required to improve the positive development of the state of nature by 2030. Read more about the topic here.
“Metsä Group and its owner-members want to operate in Finnish forests so that the forests stay healthy and vibrant, especially in the face of climate changes. The common understanding is that as growth conditions change, a variety of species helps forests adapt,” says Juho Rantala, Metsä Group’s SVP, Development.
Nowadays, the wellbeing of forests and forest nature is protected by laws, forest certification requirements, Metsä Group’s policies and forest owners’ decisions. The company’s newest policy actions is its Metsä Group Plus service, which is optional for owner-members and was deployed in June. The service also follows the principles of regenerative forestry.
Chosen separately for each wood trade transaction
“Metsä Group Plus is a new service for our owner-members. With the service, whenever owner-members are discussing wood trade or young stand management orders, they can also arrange measures that safeguard or improve the state of forest nature in their forest more comprehensively than with the current standard practices,” says Jani Riissanen, SVP, Wood Trade and Forest Services, Metsä Group.
The forest certification applies to either all the forest owner’s forest estates or a specific estate, depending on the certification system. The certification defines a comprehensive set of good practices for forest management. In the Metsä Group Plus model, the forest owner can choose separately for each wood trade transaction whether they want to use the more comprehensive measures under the Plus model.
Because owner-members choose the Metsä Group Plus measures separately for each trade, the results of their choices can be immediately seen in the forests when the work starts. There will be more retention trees, more high biodiversity stumps and more protective thickets. Depending on the waterway, they will have buffer zones of 10–30 metres around them.
Increased variety of species
The measures included in Metsä Group Plus are quite familiar, but what is new is their scale. Another new aspect is that Metsä Group reserves the right to burn retention trees left on Metsä Group Plus sites before establishing a new forest.
The goal is to increase the amount of burned wood in forests, which is currently insufficient for species that need it.
“Metsä Group Plus also increases the number of older trees and the amount of sturdy decaying trunk wood in the forest. It also diversifies the structure of the forest and creates variation in the microclimate. We expect these changes to increase the variety of forest species on Metsä Group Plus sites. The service also has an impact on the variety of tree species through measures such as restrictions of use for shoreline areas,” says Rantala.
He wants to remind people that the most significant impact on tree species comes from Metsä Group’s policy of only purchasing pine, spruce and birch, as well as aspen of less than 40 centimetres in diameter, and the company also favours mixed cultivation in its operations. Based on current understanding, increasing the number of mixed forests and avoiding the creation of forests consisting solely of spruce is considered a key method for helping forests adapt in the face of climate changes.
“It’s a good idea to discuss the establishment of a new forest at the same time as a wood trade. This ensures that you get the seedlings you want, the regeneration activities are carried out as soon as possible after the regeneration felling, and the new carbon storing forest is established as soon as possible,” says Riissanen.
Costs compensated
Metsä Group pays forest owners more for certified wood than for uncertified wood.
“Metsä Group will pay an additional bonus per hectare for regeneration felling carried out according to the Metsä Group Plus service’s terms. The additional bonus compensates the owner-members for the wood trade income lost as a result of the service,” says Riissanen.
The additional bonus is similar to the bonus accumulated for wood trades and forest management service sales. The bonus can be used to pay for forest management work, or it can be paid along with the next wood trade.
Metsä Group Plus service was deployed in June. Interested owner-members can ask their forest specialist about the service when discussing wood trade or young stand management orders.
“We will start the Metsä Group Plus service with the measures described in this article. The measures may change, such as if there are legislative changes or changes to the criteria of forest certifications. The Metsä Group Plus terms applied to each site are always the terms that were valid at the time of the sale,” says Rantala.
Text and photo: Metsä Group
This text was published in Metsä Group’s Viesti 2/2023.