The call for applications for various nature management and restoration projects in Metsä Group’s funding programme is now open. Applications are accepted from 1 February to 30 April 2025: https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/MG_luontohankkeiden_haku_2025
The funding programme for nature projects is a programme launched by Metsä Group in 2021, with which the company finances development projects promoting biodiversity that are implemented outside commercial forests in Finland. To date, 67 different projects across Finland have been granted funding amounting to roughly EUR 1.8 million. The company does not seek any business profit through the projects.
The funded projects can be related to nature solutions for the built environment, rehabilitation of aquatic bird habitats and wetlands, watercourses, small waterbodies and the living conditions of specific species such as pollinators, for example. Applications concerning entirely new technological or other innovations are also very welcome.
The company hopes to receive applications for a wide range of initiatives across Finland. Another goal is to involve various operators, including organisations, schools and municipalities.
“Strengthening Finnish nature is a key common goal. Metsä Group is an important social operator, and with this funding programme, we want to demonstrate that the private sector can also contribute to funding actions that improve the state of nature,” says Timo Lehesvirta, Metsä Group’s leading nature expert.
The selection of the projects is conducted by an independent expert jury, with representatives from the University of Eastern Finland, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.
“Finland is committed to halting biodiversity loss and turning the development of biodiversity onto a track to recovery. It is clear that the goals cannot be reached through the actions of the public sector alone: extensive cooperation between different operators is needed. Companies play a key role in improving and preserving the state of nature. On one hand, companies are dependent on a healthy nature and on the other, companies have a significant impact on the state of nature. Front-runner companies can be agile and lead the way in the mitigation of biodiversity loss as well. The disappearance of habitats and the degradation of their quality are key reasons for biodiversity loss. The restoration of degraded habitats is widely required in different environments both within natural conservation areas and outside them”, says Laura Höijer, Research Director, Ministry of the Environment and a member of the independent expert jury.
This year, EUR 600,000 has been allocated to the ten-year funding programme. Over the years, the goal is to create a diverse set of projects, in the context of which operators share their best operating models.
Metsä Group and the entire industry carry an important responsibility for the state of forest nature. The funding programme for nature projects supports non-forestry measures. However, our most significant impacts focus on forests in which forestry is pursued. We strengthen the state of commercial forests with the principles of regenerative forestry and forest services such as the Metsä Group Plus forest management model. Regenerative land use focuses on the industrial and built environment of mill localities, while nature solutions focus on people’s everyday environment.
Further information is available on the website of the nature project funding programme.