Metsä Group introduces voluntary nature compensation measures in its environmental deviations. Part of regenerative forestry, nature compensation overcompensates the harm to nature resulting from any legal violations. The operating model ensures that corrective measures linked to defective performance result in greater benefit than harm to nature. Nature compensation will be applied in matters related to the Nature Conservation Act and the Forest Act – key legislation in terms of biodiversity.
The development of the compensation model is ongoing, and it will be applied retrospectively from 2023 for deviations detected. During 2025, an independent expert group invited by Metsä Group will participate in the determination of nature damage and compensation measures for these sites, while the operating model's methods are developed for the future.
In its operations, Metsä Group complies with laws and environmental standards applicable to the forest sector. Forestry measures and development are guided by the principles of regenerative forestry developed by the company itself, with the aim of verifiably strengthening the state of nature by 2030. Regenerative forestry provides forest owners with advanced services securing wood production, the state of forest nature, the climate resilience of forests and the added value of forest assets. The compensatory measure to be introduced complements the package of measures aimed at strengthening the state of nature.
"We carry out more than 30,000 wood trades every year, and the quality of our operations is a matter of honour for us. However, it is impossible to eliminate all errors, and there are some deviations in our operations every year. However, their number is small in relation to the scope of our operations. In the event of an error, we want to compensate for the damage caused to nature with compensation measures. These exceptional situations also involve corrective actions on the sites in cooperation with the authorities and a careful analysis of the events," says Juha Jumppanen, Executive Vice President, Metsä Group Wood Supply and Forest Services.
"We report publicly about our activities and want to be transparent about our objectives and measures. We will tell about our operational development projects and our success in them.. If we make mistakes, we will also announce them with corrective measures, including on our website. Our operations are also guided by the feedback we receive from our dialogue with stakeholders," Jumppanen continues.
As no tried and tested compensation procedure for environmental deviations is yet available, one must be developed. The members of the independent expert group represent Natural Resources Institute Finland, Tapio and the environmental organisation Villi vyöhyke ry. The team members have strong environmental expertise in ecology, restoration and forestry. Our goal is to develop an advanced environmental management integrated compensation procedure in which the quality of operations and ecological appropriateness are ensured.