Stora Enso comments on environmental incident in Hukkajoki, Finland
On Thursday 15 August, an environmental incident was discovered at a Stora Enso harvesting site in Kainuu, Finland, and the incident is being investigated as an aggravated nature conservation offence. Forestry machinery has crossed a river where there is a population of the highly endangered freshwater pearl mussel. Stora Enso takes the matter extremely seriously. The authorities and the company have strict responsibility requirements and comprehensive guidelines for the consideration of freshwater pearl mussel in harvesting operations. Stora Enso is cooperating with the police and other authorities to find out what happened at Hukkajoki. As a result of this and our own investigation, our guidelines and procedures will be refined to ensure that everyone involved in harvesting in valuable natural areas is aware of them in the future. This applies both to Stora Enso employees and to our partners, such as contractors and forest owners.