In line with the corporate responsibility policy, M-real is committed to using wood from sustainably managed forests, where economic, social and environmental issues are balanced, and to promoting reliable forest certification systems based on independent third-party verification and suitable for local conditions.
Sustainable forest management guarantees the preservation of forest biodiversity and the steady production of wood raw material, which benefits both the forest owner and the industry. It ensures that forests are not damaged or harvested more than can be restored by growth.
Forest certification
The conservation of forest biodiversity and endangered species is strictly guided through national forest legislation and instructions on forest management. Voluntary forest certification systems help to enhance forest management to meet even stricter standards than those required by legislation.
Presently, eight per cent of the world’s forests have been certified. The relevant forest certification systems in M-real’s wood procurement areas - northern and central Europe and Russia - are PEFC and FSC. In Finland, for instance, 98 per cent of the forests are certified by PEFC - the predominant system used in small, privately-owned forest.
At present, two thirds of our wood raw material comes from certified forests. We strive to further increase the share of certified wood in our products and to launch more forest certification labelled products on the market.
Voluntary forest conservation
Metsäliitto Group supports the Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland (METSO) coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of the Environment. The objective of the programme is the flexible harmonisation of different forms of forest use and voluntary, state-subsidised protection of forest resources.
New methods for protecting the nature values of forests, including voluntary conservation in return for financial compensation, have been introduced. The results have been encouraging and continued measures are being planned for 2008–2016.