Finnish forest industry company Metsä Group has announced a new voluntary nature compensation program for environmental deviations.
The initiative, part of the company's regenerative forestry approach, aims to overcompensate for any harm to nature resulting from legal violations.
The compensation model, which will be applied retrospectively from 2023, focuses on matters related to the Nature Conservation Act and the Forest Act, key legislation for biodiversity. An independent expert group will be involved in assessing nature damage and determining compensation measures for affected sites during 2025.
Juha Jumppanen, Executive Vice President of Metsä Group Wood Supply and Forest Services, emphasized the company's commitment to quality operations while acknowledging the possibility of errors. He stated, "In the event of an error, we want to compensate for the damage caused to nature with compensation measures".
The company conducts over 30,000 wood trades annually, and while deviations are relatively rare, Metsä Group aims for transparency in reporting and addressing these issues. This approach aligns with their principles of regenerative forestry, which seek to verifiably strengthen the state of nature by 2030.
Metsä Group's initiative reflects a growing trend in the forestry sector towards more sustainable and ecologically responsible practices. The company's efforts to develop an advanced environmental management integrated compensation procedure demonstrate a proactive approach to addressing environmental concerns in the industry.
