How Finnish forest industry Metsä Group seeks balance between business and biodiversity

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🗞️ Driving the news: Metsä Group, a key player in Finland's forest industry, is advancing a biodiversity initiative to integrate sustainability into its operations
• The project, starting at its Kemi mill, focuses on habitat restoration and aims to expand across the company's industrial sites

🔭 The context: Finland's economy relies heavily on forestry, which contributes 18% of export revenue
• Sustainable practices are essential to maintain forests as carbon sinks and to meet the EU's biodiversity targets, which include reducing biodiversity loss by 50% by 2030

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: By prioritizing biodiversity, Metsä Group addresses critical environmental challenges, including habitat loss and declining species diversity
• The initiative could set a precedent for other companies, promoting industry-wide shifts toward sustainable land management

⏭️ What's next: If the pilot at the Kemi site succeeds, Metsä plans to expand restoration efforts across seven countries
• Long-term goals include embedding sustainability into core business strategies and mainstreaming these practices within the private sector

💬 One quote: "The company is now looking for proactive, internal ownership of biodiversity-related issues," said Timo Lehesvirta, Metsä Group’s environmental expert

📈 One stat: Since June 2024, the project has restored 20 hectares of open habitat at the Kemi site

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