180 M
107 M m 3
Each year 180 million trees are planted in Finland. Finnish forests are 50 per cent pine, 30 per cent spruce and 17 per cent birch.
Finnish forests grow 107 million cubic meters per year. Forests cover a staggering 75 per cent of Finland’s surface area.
forest management work at the Vanha-Pälsilä farm has been carried out unaided by the Eerola family. This is also notable, because roughly a third of Finland’s more than 600,000 forest owners do not even reside in the same lo- cality as their forest. “Both partial and full outsourcing of forest management work is very common,” says Pekka Seppälä. RETENTION TREES INTRODUCE BIODIVERSITY Teppo Oijala reminds us that forests are managed not only for people’s own livelihood, or that of future genera- tions, but to mitigate climate change. Wood is a renewable resource, and the products made from it serve as respon- sible alternatives to products made from non-renewable resources. Well-managed, robust forests sequester carbon dioxide from the air and function as carbon sinks. Seppälä points out the features in the landscape which demonstrate that the forest’s biodiversity has been taken care of after the regeneration. A group of retention trees have been left standing in the middle of the felling site. The best groups of retention trees consist of a variety of tree species of varying ages, some of which will begin decaying over time. This is vitally important for many organisms. In addition, the retention trees provide the forest with trees of different ages, which is also important for many organisms. Retention trees are also a requirement for both PEFC and FSC certification. For Eerola, obtaining a certificate was a “given”. Nearly 90 per cent of the wood purchased by Metsä Group is certified. One of the trees left standing is a naturally formed high stump, meaning that its top has broken off at a height of about four or five metres. While trees that decay where
COMMENT “Growing a mixed forest is a superb way to improve the soil. A forest with multiple tree species is also more resistant to pests. We aim for mixed forests whenever it’s right for the growth location.” Teppo Oijala, Silviculture Manager, Metsä Group
COMMENT “The story of Eerola’s forests is quite something. The estate is a great example of how you can improve a forest’s growth considerably with sustainable management.”
Pekka Seppälä, Forest Specialist, Metsä Group
Saving trees are left to the logging site to form habitats for species who live on decaying wood.
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