Improving the availability of sustainably produced small wood in North Karelia

The use of peat and fossil raw materials is reduced in accordance with the climate goals, as a result of which the demand for sustainably produced small wood has grown and continues to grow. The annual use of wood chips in Finland is estimated to increase to 12–13 million cubic meters by 2030. As the use of wood chips increases, the availability and sufficiency of domestic raw material becomes especially important in North Karelia, where wood from Russia has been used in the past. Increasing activity in forests increases the need to protect diversity and nature management even more carefully. The goal of the project is to use four different methods to produce more accurate and up-to-date information to support the investments and decision-making of companies that purchase and use small wood. As a result, the sufficiency of the wood will be secured and the decision-making of new investments becomes easier and faster. In the project, new technology is also being piloted in the pilot survey of forests. The field work and sample plot measurements of remote sensing is very expensive and the goal of the pilot is to bring a new cost-effective method to the collection of forest data and at the same time strengthen the position of the top companies in the province's inventory industry in the race for development. The goal is also to improve companies' availability, supply and technical-economic profitability of sustainably produced small wood raw material. This is done e.g. by activating both companies and forest owners in different ways and organizing events where companies and forest owners meet. Companies' availability and supply of sustainably produced small wood raw material will be improved, and at the same time, as the use of forests increases, the diversity and growth of forests will be better ensured.