News release 6 October 2022 at 15 p.m.
Koskisen Oy provides forest owners with high-quality services related to timber trade and forest management. The health and growth of forests is promoted through thinnings, performed primarily twice during a forest’s rotation period. Depending on the wood species and location, they are carried out when the stand is between 20 and 55 years old.
Thinnings are the key means of improving forests’ vitality and supporting their growth. Alongside traditional thinning methods, continuous cover forestry, in which cover is always maintained, is being explored and tested. Characteristic to continuous cover forestry is that the tree size distribution is varied, new seedlings are born naturally and trees develop from the undergrowth reserve.
“High quality, timely forest management measures improve forest growth and guarantee good yields. We are also involved in the testing of different methods of continuous cover forestry which help achieve various targets related to biodiversity and forest use,” says Joonas Ojasalo Koskisen’s Director of Wood Supply.
Ojasalo points out that all forest management measures are tailored to the site, and the final decision concerning the measures to be implemented rests with the forest owner. Different harvesting methods are also not mutually exclusive; instead, all of them have a place in sustainable forestry.
Research professor Jari Hynynen at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) also talks about the overall sustainability of commercial forests. He has looked into forest management and cultivation from several perspectives.
“Continuous cover forestry is one means of multi-purpose forest management which may promote forests’ overall sustainability and increase their structural diversity when used at appropriate sites,” says Hynynen.
Hynynen presented a continuous cover forest site to the National Forest Council on 5 October 2022 in Lahti. The Forest Council is a body established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that is made up of several parties representing a wide range of forest use. The council supports the ministry in wide-ranging and fundamental forest policy issues. In addition to the forest site, the Forest Council learned about Koskisen’s operations at the Järvelä mill.
Additional information:
Joonas Ojasalo, Director of Wood Supply, Koskisen Oy
Tel. +358 40 720 6920, joonas.ojasalo@koskisen.com
Sanna Väisänen, Director of Sustainability and Communications, Koskisen Oy
Tel. +358 50 355 7990, sanna.vaisanen@koskisen.com
The sawmill and panel industry leader Koskisen is a Finnish family-owned company. In 2021, more than 900 Koskisen employees generated a turnover of EUR 311 million, processing Finnish wood into sustainable products. At Koskisen, responsibility means working to increase the well-being of the environment, society and people. Koskisen’s products are shipped to quality-conscious customers around the world. Read more about us: koskisen.fi.