UPM applies for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for its forests in Finland. At the same time UPM also extends its forest service portfolio to cover FSC-certification services to Finnish forest owners. UPM’s forests and most of the privately owned forests in Finland are already certified under PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes).

“The FSC certification of company forests increases UPM’s possibilities to supply products produced from wood that is certified according to customers’ request. This way we can better match our offering with customers’ needs,” says Kari Ylönen, Director, Marketing.

“We study the environmental impacts of our products through the whole lifecycle. Sustainable forest management and wood sourcing is one part of this life-cycle approach. Forest certification, like FSC and PEFC, tells about the sustainability of product’s raw material to the customer,” says Timo Lehesvirta, Director, Environment.

UPM starts the FSC certification from its forests located in Southern Finland and decides upon next steps once it has gathered some experience on FSC certification process. The preparations to implement FSC standard are on-going.