Stora Enso Resumes Harvesting in Finland After Completing Harvesting Site Inspections

On Friday, Stora Enso announced that it has completed its inspections of harvesting sites in Finland with high nature values. The inspections took place following the environmental violation in Hukkajoki, Finland, on August 15th.

The inspections show that no additional non-compliance cases have been detected in the assessed areas. As a result, harvesting operations at all inspected sites in Finland have resumed.

During the inspections, the operational guidelines, harvesting plans, and risks related to the harvesting sites were reassessed, the company said. In addition to the site inspections, Stora Enso has initiated additional training on environmental policies, and it is carrying out a comprehensive audit with a third party of all wood procurement planning, implementation, and control processes. Furthermore, the company has completed an internal investigation into the Hukkajoki environmental violation.

Stora Enso had notified the environmental authorities of Kainuu ELY Centre on August 28th of one suspected non-compliance regarding crossing a stream inhabited by the freshwater pearl mussel.

ELY Centre inspected the stream site on September 5th, and Kainuu ELY Centre inspected stream site in question in Puolanka, Finland, on September 5th. Based on their observations, there has been activity at the site that violates the Nature Conservation Act, and this will lead to further measures. However, according to ELY Centre’s press release on September 6th, the Puolanka site differs from the Hukkajoki site both in terms of the characteristics of the stream and its surroundings and the scale of the activity, and therefore does not require the same type of acute restoration measures as the Hukkajoki site.