1) Finland has an abundance of forest land, with over 4 hectares per capita and 61% owned by private families. 2) The Metsään.fi portal allows forest owners to manage their forests from home, providing information and maps of their properties to help plan loggings and estimate costs and incomes. 3) Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management provide guidance for forest owners to balance objectives like protection, profitability, recreation and biodiversity in accordance with forestry laws and certification requirements.

1. Best Practices
for Sustainable
Forest Management
in Finland

2. Jessika,
did you know,
that here in Finland we
have over 4 hectares of forest
land per capita? And that 61 %
of productive forest land is owned
by normal Finnish families and
25 % by state?
Yes, Leo, I knew that.
My grandpa is also a forest owner,
like 14 % of Finns are.
But bet you didn´t know
that 83 % of all the wood cut
comes from those
family-owned
forests.

3. We Finns know our forests
inside out — Metsään.fi portal
• Forest owners can today take care of their forest-
related business from the comfort of their own
homes.
• Metsään.fi-portal is a service that offers the latest
information and maps on their forest properties.
• Information is displayed for each forest stand
compartment, broken down by soil type, tree species
and natural occurrence.
• This service suggests possible loggings or other forest
management activities and it also provides related
income and cost estimates.
• The service is available free of charge for all private
forest owners.
3

4. My grandma
owns forest too.
And she says that her
forests grow a lot of money.
She manages them like a pro.
Ok, but my grandpa has preserved
one corner of his best forest
just for me. When I grow up,
I can decide what I want
to do with it. It’s great that
we all have different ideas
what we want to do.
That is why our
forests are
different too.

5. High quality information and skillful
forestry professionals help us make
the right decisions
Multiobjective
30%
Recreationists
24%
Self-employed
20%
Investors
16%
Indifferent
10%
Source: Natural Resources Institute Finland, 2010
Forest owners are all different – and they want to manage their
forests accordingly. Best Practices offer numerous management
options for their needs.

6. 6
3 cases
Laws and forest
certification
set limits
for the use of
commercial
forests
Best Practices
for Sustainable
Forest Management
guide
forest owners
towards
their goals in practice.

7. Case 1: Protection of waters
Finland is a country of thousands of lakes
• The law forbids polluting the waters and obligates to
protect the ground water.
• Certification requires us to protect the waters by
leaving protective zones of land along the lake shores
and other waterways.
• Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management
offer tools for water protection such as alternative
management methods, timing of operations, and
technical solutions regarding e.g. drainage systems.
85 % of commercial forests are certified (PEFC or FSC).
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8. Case 2: Thinnings
• The Law defines the minimum growing stock to be
left on the site. If the thinnings are more severe, the
owner must ensure the growth of the new stock.
• Certification brings more demands such as favouring
mixed forests and taking gamekeeping into account.
• Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management
offer forest owners tools such as when and how to
thin and what options there are for the improvement
of forest biodiversity.
8

9. Case 3: Decaying wood secures
diverse nature
• In the law the requirements to assure a certain
amount of decaying wood to be left in the forest are
connected to specifically defined, nationally mapped
target areas.
• Certification includes requirements for saving living
retention trees and decaying large dimension timber.
• Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management
advice where to leave the retention trees and how to
keep the decaying wood intact during logging
operations.
9

10. Best research knowledge combined
with practical solutions
• Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management are
prepared in an extensive and highly-valued
collaboration process; it includes researchers, forest
owners, forest industry representatives, NGOs,
practitioners, etc.
• This process ensures that we benefit from everyone’s
combined wisdom, the Best Practices are put in use and
that the whole value chain runs smoothly.
• Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management are
available online at www.metsanhoitosuositukset.fi
• The work is coordinated by Tapio Ltd.
10

11. Private forest owners have received
professional guidance for over 100 years
Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management belong to the forestry professionals basic training.
Detailed guide books are available on specific topics.
Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management
Protection
of waters
Profitable
forestry
Gamekeeping
and forest
management
Peatland
forestry
Energy wood
harvesting
Biodiversity
and forest
management
Maintenance
of forest roads

12. Why are the Best Practices for Sustainable
Forest Management important?
”The Best Practices are prepared in an
exceptionally extensive stakeholder
collaboration, which ensures balance
between different areas of sustainability.
Good forest management is the basis for
profitable forestry and the growth of
wood-based bioeconomy."
-Tomi Salo, Finnish Forest Industries
Federation
12
”The Best Practices offer advice on how to
take forest biodiversity into account.
Making use of the new forest
management options definitely pays off."
- Jari Luukkonen, WWF

13. Thank you!
© Tapio Ltd 2016 www.tapio.fi | More forest facts: Forest.fi www.smy.fi/en/forest-fi/forest-facts/
The symbol for Best Practices for Sustainable Forest Management
is an image of a wood grouse drawn by Erik Bruun. The wood grouse
needs diverse environments during its lifetime and it adapts to forest
management if its leks are preserved.