Metsä Group recommends nature management for sunlit slopes to increase forest biodiversity

Metsä Group is reviewing sunlit slopes in its owner-members’ forests and intensifying its guidance for their management. The management of sunlit slopes is one way to improve the living conditions of endangered forest species and increase forest biodiversity.

Of all the endangered forest species, 12 per cent live in sunlit habitats. Only a few thousand hectares of representative sunlit habitats remain in Finland. They are of greater importance for forest biodiversity than their small surface area would appear to warrant.

“To our owner members, we recommend nature management on slopes featuring the properties required of habitats for sunlit species. For the most representative sunlit slopes, we recommend voluntary protection. ​Of course, the decision about forest management is always made by the forest owner,” says Jani Riissanen, SVP, Wood Trade and Forest Services.

Sunlit slopes are found along ridge formations, where the soil often consists of water-permeable sand and gravel. Facing south or west, they are warm and dry habitats​ with widely contrasting conditions. Sunlit slopes are naturally dominated by pine. They are open and have a thin, uneven layer of humus. These are properties that are also sought through nature management.

The species typically found on sunlit slopes are threatened by forest overgrowth,​ eutrophication​ and the absence of forest fires and other disturbances. Nature management aims to boost the natural properties of sunlit habitats, as well as increase the number of sunlit species and attract them back to the site.

“Among other things, the management of sunlit slopes means making the site more open and breaking the soil in areas at risk of overgrowth. We recommend that any regeneration felling on sunlit slopes is carried out as seed-tree or group selection cutting, and that the surface of the mineral soil should be uncovered,” Riissanen says.

Metsä Group is committed to the principles of regenerative forestry, which strengthen the state of our forests. The goal is to ensure that Finnish forest assets are transferred in a more vibrant, diverse and climate resilient condition from one generation and owner to the next. Metsä Group implements regenerative forestry principles through various measures as part of its daily work in Finnish forests.

Sunlit slopes and herb-rich forests are the most significant habitats in terms of forest biodiversity as they are home to more than half of Finland’s endangered forest species. Appropriately managed, both profitable forestry and nature management can be carried out in them. Nature management on sunlit slopes and in herb-rich forests is one of many ways in which Metsä Group implements the principles of regenerative forestry in Finnish forests.

Metsä Group’s mill areas often include sunlit areas as sunlit species also thrive in “substitute” habitats such as roadsides and storage areas. Using nature management for sunlit areas in the mill environment is part of Metsä Group’s regenerative land use principles, which guide our efforts to support biodiversity in the built environment. Together with the regenerative forestry principles, they bolster Metsä Group’s goal of strengthening the state of nature through its operations by 2030.

Further information about regenerative forestry: https://www.metsagroup.com/sustainability/forests-and-wood/regenerative-forestry/

Further information about regenerative land use: https://www.metsagroup.com/sustainability/forests-and-wood/regenerative-land-use/

For further information, please contact:

Jani Riissanen, SVP, Metsä Group Wood Trade and Forest Services, tel. +358 50 598 8714

Juha Laine, SVP, Marketing and Communications, Metsä Group Wood Supply and Forest services, tel. +358 50 346 0350

Metsä Group’s Wood Supply and Forest Services 
metsagroup.com/metsaforest

Metsä Forest provides and develops services for the members of Metsä Group’s parent company, Metsäliitto Cooperative. The company procures all the wood used by Metsä Group’s production units. The cooperative consists of more than 90,000 forest owners, who own about half of Finland’s privately owned forests. We are committed to regenerative forestry that measurably strengthens the forest ecosystem. We promote a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion. 

In 2023, our sales totalled EUR 2.2 billion, and we have around 700 employees. The sales of the whole Metsä Group were EUR 6,1 billion.