Villi Vyöhyke employees record plant species in the forest areas surrounding the Metsä Group. [+] Chem facilities for building forest inventories.
Jere Niemi
Finnish forestry giant Metsä Group has launched a biodiversity project that envisions promoting innovative corporate responsibility practices, apart from the most pressing issue of habitat restoration.
Finland’s forestry industry is a major pillar of the country’s economy, accounting for approximately 20% of export earnings. With more than 75% of Finland’s land covered by forests, sustainable forestry is central to the country’s ability to meet climate neutrality goals, and research shows that unsustainable The practice has been shown to reduce the opportunity for forests to act as efficient carbon sinks.
Companies like Metsä Group manage millions of hectares of forests, and by focusing on environmental management, responsible management and care of natural resources to ensure long-term sustainability, It can play an important role in advancing gender initiatives.
Balancing corporate responsibility and environmental management
One of the company’s main goals is to combat biodiversity loss. The issue is highlighted by the European Union’s obligation to reduce biodiversity loss by 50% by 2030.
The Metsä Group itself manages 5.5 million hectares of land and has set itself standards that balance commercial success with environmental stewardship. As part of this biodiversity drive, Metsä Group has launched a flagship project focused on habitat restoration within industrial environments, starting with the Group’s factories. Kemi, Finland is a small town near the Swedish border.
Metsä Group’s industrial site in the Kemi district is surrounded by forest and directly… [+] It faces the Baltic Sea.
metsä group
Central to Metsä Group’s strategy is integrating biodiversity initiatives into its business operations. Until now, the company had handled environmental programs separately from its core activities. However, Metsä Group environmental expert Timo Regesvirta explained that this approach was not effective in terms of changing corporate culture and understanding the importance of biodiversity restoration.
In this project, the company’s biodiversity goals are linked to its main objectives through a ‘business integration solution’. This means that sustainability is integrated into the company’s operations, rather than being an ancillary initiative.
Members of the environmental organization Villi Vyöhyke Ry are planting seeds in an area on the Metsä property. [+] Kemi industrial site.
Jere Niemi
Kemi’s industrial area is the first pilot in the company’s habitat restoration efforts, which began in June 2024. If it proves successful, it will be expanded to other Metsä Group locations in seven countries.
Lehesvirta emphasizes that this is not just a compliance effort, but an effort to embed sustainability into the company’s DNA. We are moving towards a strategy where our employees play an active role in managing biodiversity initiatives as part of our long-term planning,” he said.
biodiversity strategy
In the Chemifactory industrial area, surrounded by forests and the Baltic Sea, Metsä Group is regenerating to promote biodiversity as part of a broader vision for a zero-fossil fuel, zero-waste future by 2030. We employ forestry and land use practices.
Regesvirta says its biodiversity strategy is underpinned by a “science-based approach” and is working with local and international non-profit organizations to support the restoration of more than 600 hectares of the Kemi factory site. said.
The environmental organization Willi Wjöhike is carrying out experimental tests in the factory area. “Finland conducts more than 250 different ecological restoration experiments, many of which focus on innovative solutions to promote biodiversity in forests and open spaces,” says the environmental policy researcher. Jere Nieminen said. At Villi Vyöhyke Ry.
This biodiversity project uses new methods and approaches to nature management and ecosystem restoration, exploring ways to cultivate rare local plant species, including mountain eternal wildflowers, within the on-site sandy habitat. I’m doing it.
The aim is to revitalize areas previously thought to be inhospitable to wildlife and pollinators, transforming them into thriving ecosystems. “If there are insects, there are birds,” said Jari Mietunen, a member of the local chapter of the bird awareness group BirdLife.
The Terresian Sandpiper is one of the rarest breeding birds in Europe. Half of Europe’s population (10… [+] pair) breeds in the Kemi region.
Matti Suopajarvi
While monitoring the approximately 150 to 180 pairs of birds that breed in the area, Mietunen monitors the area’s biodiversity, including what types of plants and insects are associated with local bird populations. helped me understand their needs. Among them are rare birds such as the black-eared sandpiper.
One of the main challenges was collecting local seeds that are not easily sold on the market. The rules are so strict that Nieminen and his colleagues had to personally strip seeds from plants within 20 kilometers of the restoration site. “We collected over 200 species,” he said, showing photos of his colleagues planting different species.
Seeds are collected and sorted within Metsä Group facilities.
metsä group
Focus on open habitat restoration
Metsä Group has restored 20 hectares of public habitat since starting the project last June. The work is complex, as the team is seeking solutions for 20 open habitat types within industrial areas and surrounding areas.
One of the Chemifactory project’s more experimental efforts is the creation of a white noise barrier using lime mud, designed to protect sensitive species from industrial noise pollution.
At this stage, the Metsä Group is primarily investing in open habitat restoration, which takes place in spaces such as fields, industrial areas and urban areas, rather than forests. “Open habitats recover much faster than forests, and it can take decades to see results,” Nieminen said.
However, these types of measures have no direct effect on increasing the country’s carbon sinks, as logging and peatland degradation have reduced the potential of trees and peat to absorb carbon. Enhancing forest growth and maintaining forest health by caring for seedlings in a timely manner, applying standard fertilization, and following forest management recommendations are essential to keeping carbon in the ground.
Nieminen said his team is also piloting ecological restoration within clearcut areas, which are parcels of land within the forest that have been cleared by the Metsä Group and are now devoid of trees. “This is a completely new way of doing things in Finland,” Nieminen said. Next is forest restoration, he said.
Meanwhile, the Finnish forestry organization has not released figures for the project’s estimated budget. “Implementation of the plan at Kemi will take approximately five years. After this, the solution created will need to be maintained according to an annual management plan, the cost of which will vary depending on the option chosen,” Lehesvirta said. Masu.
The Metsä Group is extending these efforts to multiple industrial locations, providing one example to the private sector of how it can strengthen ecosystems and conserve natural resources for future generations. “Our goal and vision is for this to become mainstream in the public sphere and in the public sphere,” including the private sector,” Regesvirta said, adding that other stakeholders should also be aware of biodiversity loss and called on them to join the fight.
