How we train our contractors to safeguard biodiversity in Finnish forests

The trick is to recognise trees and habitats with high ecological value and give them space. It is not as easy as it sounds, but Harvestia has been doing exactly this in the project ‘Towards more biodiverse forests’.

Mondi’s stakeholders increasingly ask about how forest management works to enhance biodiversity conversation and how we as a business aim to reduce our impacts on nature.  

In Europe and Canada, we don’t own forest landholdings and source our wood externally. However, this doesn’t stop us from promoting the importance of healthy ecosystems and biodiversity stewardship, as a great example from Harvestia in Finland shows. To improve biodiversity management in this context, partnerships are essential! For example, Harvestia’s staff guides and supervises the activities of our logging contractors. The logging contractors are in charge of harvesting wood and have a key role to play when it comes to biodiversity.  

To develop our staff and contractors, Harvestia organised a joint online training session and five field day workshops. A total of 130 contractors (harvester and forwarder drivers) participated together with Harvestia’s own staff. At the workshops, they discussed the key principles of sustainable forest management and how the right harvesting practices support forest health and resilience. In addition, they also showcased best practices and typical challenges during the field visits. 

The workshop and the whole project would not be possible without a guidance on sustainable forest management developed in a multi-stakeholder process, led by Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The guidance document provided us with a science-based and socially legitimate foundation upon which our own biodiversity program is built. When dealing with biodiversity matters, the local context is key and field activities must be tailored to the specific conditions of each forest area.  

The key principles of sustainable forest management  

So, what are the principles of sustainable forest management when performing thinnings in Finland? Harvestia asked its logging contractors to implement the following principles at each thinning site: 

During thinning operations, contractors have clear instructions, but at the same time they have the responsibility to make their own decisions on the ground. They also document the nature management measures in a smartphone app (Routa), which gives a report to the forest owner. In Finland, harvester operators receive at least 3-year education in forest colleges and need to continuously improve their know-how. The training provided by Harvestia is a great example of how knowledge sharing can be facilitated in forest operations.
 
The actions described above are part of an overall approach to biodiversity management in boreal forests and only describe the measures at the stage of commercial thinnings. Activities that consider forest resilience and biodiversity are implemented throughout the forest management cycle, for example during forest planning, reforestation activities, precommercial thinnings, and final harvest. 

Maintain protection zones next to water bodies

Environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically feasible 

Harvestia’s biodiversity project has strong environmental and social aspects. However, what makes this a lighthouse project is that it also strengthens the company’s market position. The project caters to a growing number of forest owners putting emphasis on biodiversity matters. This helps Harvestia to achieve market differentiation and improves its competitiveness. Such a project exemplifies three key aspects of sustainability: environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically feasible. 

Scaling up our efforts  

So far, Harvestia has completed the first stage of the ‘Towards more biodiverse forests’ project in Finland. In the coming months, they will monitor the contractors’ performance and report on the implementation. Harvestia also strives to scale up communication efforts towards forest owners in Finland. The project may not be replicable in every country where wood is sourced from, but Mondi plans to investigate opportunities for scale up in other regions. 

In comparison to Europe, where Mondi only sources wood externally, Mondi South Africa has around 255,000 hectares of owned and leased land available for forestry activities.