Tornator provides 20,000 hectares of forest for continuous-cover forestry 

Tornator is increasing the amount of continuous-cover forestry in its peatland forests. The current practice of periodic forest management will be replaced by continuous-cover forest management particularly in the more barren marshes. The change applies to the area from North Karelia to Northern Finland. The amount of continuous-cover forest will increase to 20,000 hectares. The change in the way forests are managed is part of Tornator’s climate and biodiversity programmes for the period up to 2030. 

“The change will be reflected in light selection felling, small-scale clearcutting and strip cutting in mature forests. In other words, clear-felling will not be carried out at these sites. The most barren sites will be restored to their natural state,” says Tornator CEO Henrik Nieminen.  

Continuous-cover forest management reduces groundwater level fluctuations caused by felling and keeps water levels closer to those optimal from a climate perspective by reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions. The absence of ditch cleaning and supplementary ditching and soil preparation will reduce strain on the water system and contribute to biodiversity.  

“The brand-new biodiversity roadmap for the wood processing industry also shows that the use of peatland forests and the impact of forestry on waterways and soil require further attention. With this decision, Tornator, Finland’s largest private forest owner, also wants to lead the way in the sustainable use of peatlands,” says Tornator’s Forestry Director Ari Karhapää (Additional information: Biodiversity roadmap for the wood processing industry). 

For further information, please contact:  

Heikki Myöhänen, Environmental Manager, tel. +358 50 441 2253 

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Tornator is a leading European company specialising in sustainable forest management. The company owns a total of 740,000 hectares of forest in Finland, Estonia and Romania. In 2022, the group’s turnover was approximately €165 million and balance sheet value approximately €3.2 billion. The group has around 190 employees. All in all, the forests owned by Tornator provide about 1,500 person-years worth of work for the company’s own personnel as well as entrepreneurs and their employees. Tornator owns around 13,000 hectares of private conservation areas protected by the Nature Conservation Act. The amount of areas not used for forestry total over 64,000 hectares. The owners of the parent company are Finnish, mainly institutional investors. Tornator’s mission is “generating sustainable wellbeing from the forest”. https://www.tornator.fi/en/biodiversity-program/