Biodiversity forms the foundation for sustainable forestry
UPM’s new biodiversity target is one of the company’s responsibility targets for 2030. The aim is to preserve biodiversity alongside modern forestry. “We want to preserve and improve the biodiversity in UPM’s own forests in Finland. With this target and through our actions, we seek to open up new opportunities for different land use practises that promote the preservation of natural resources or habitats”, says Timo Lehesvirta, Sustainable Forestry Lead, Forest Global, UPM. UPM has carried out its biodiversity protection programme in the company’s forests for over 20 years. Thanks to the programme, the ratios of tree species have diversified and the amount of deadwood, which is valuable to many forest species, is increasing. Natural variation in forests has been improved through thickets for game, by protecting valuable habitats and buffer zones next to water, and by leaving retention trees and tree groups on harvesting sites. Some species are specialised to grow in conditions that differ from the surrounding forest environment. There are 45,000 protected habitats in UPM forests, and the programme protects all of them. Click Read More below for additional detail.