SUPPORTING THE OWNER IN FOREST MANAGEMENT The cooperation between Metsä Group’s specialists and a forest owner starts from the forest owner’s goals. According to Seppälä, urban forest owners are particularly interested in outsourcing forest management entirely to a professional. “The owners may, for example, instruct us to emphasise the value of nature in their forests’ management decisions. This is more common than an owner who seeks only max- imum profit from their forest.” For a Finnish forest estate, Vanha-Pälsilä is sizeable, given that the average size of a privately-owned forest estate in Finland is 30 hectares. Matti Eerola started off with slightly more than 100 hectares of fields, forest and pasture, but gradually increased the amount of forest hec- tares, which now total 240. We set off to take a look at his forests together with Eerola himself and the estate’s current owner Hanna Eerola. We are joined by Seppälä and Silviculture Manager Teppo Oijala from Metsä Group. ENOUGH WOOD FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Eerola’s hands, worn from decades of hard work, gently twirl a seedling planted a month ago. Its growth has gotten
COMMENT “Forest management is a long-term job, and the results can be enjoyed by future generations. I feel happy when I look at my forest.” Matti Eerola, forest owner
Hanna Eerola has been enthusiastic about forestry her whole life. “There is always more to learn,” she says. Hanna is here with her father Matti Eerola (left), Pekka Seppälä and Teppo Oijala from Metsä Group.
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