Our business is based on trees. This is a powerful reason to ensure that forests grow for many generations to come and our plantations meet industry-leading excellence in sustainability performance.

Global megatrends such as climate change, biodiversity loss and population growth pose many urgent challenges. This is where sustainable forestry and plantations come in.

Read more about our commitment to climate positive forestry and promoting biodiversity.

Read the brochure

Our key principles of sustainable plantation management and wood sourcing

100% traceable wood origin

100% legal sources

100% UPM plantations double certified

Zero deforestation

No use of tropical rainforests

Respecting traditional and civil rights

Safeguarding high conservation values

No use of genetically modified trees

Sustainable Forests

Well-managed forests play an essential role in natural carbon and water cycles, biodiversity and the wellbeing of local communities.

UPM is committed to sustainable forestry, which produces high-quality wood, maintains and enhances biodiversity and water protection, and protects the recreational use of forests.  Our commitment covers our own forests in Finland, as well as the timber we source from forests in other parts of the world, such as Sweden and the Baltic States.

 
515,000 hectares
Our own forests in Finland. We also lease forests and puchase wood from other forest owners.
76,000 hectares
Our own forests in the United States.
 

The majority of our forests are mixed-stand forests with native tree species. Biogeographically, our forests in Finland are semi-natural boreal forests, while those in the USA are semi-natural northern temperate woodlands.

In Finland, the logs harvested by UPM are used in our sawmills and plywood mills. Pulp production uses the side streams such as wood chips and sawdust from these mills.

Visit UPM Forest Life

 

Sustainable tree plantations

Sustainably managed eucalyptus plantations are an ecological and efficient way to produce wood raw material to meet the globally increasing need for wood-based products. Eucalyptus is also an ideal fibre for pulp making – the trees grow fast and seedlings will provide wood within 10 to 12 years. 

 

UPM manages around 459,000 hectares of land in Uruguay  - about 300,000 hectares is owned by UPM, with the remainder leased from private landowners.   Roughly 60% is planted with eucalyptus, with the remainder consisting of unplanted grassland, infrastructure and protected valuable sites such as native forests.

The plantations provide wood to UPM’s Fray Bentos pulp mill in south-western Uruguay and soon also to the Paso de los Toros mill located in central Uruguay.

All our plantations are certified to both FSC™ (SGS-FM / COC-000606) and PEFC (UY11 / 20080091) forest standards.

 
 

Everything you’ve wanted to know about tree plantations

 
 
 
 

UPM is committed to improving the level of biodiversity in its own forests and plantations 

Biodiversity has an instrumental role in maintaining healthy forest growth and therefore ensuring the vitality of our business.

We safeguard biodiversity by several means in our everyday actions: protecting habitats that are critical to biodiversity, ensuring diverse tree species composition and structural variation in the Finnish boreal forests, leaving buffer zones around water systems, increasing deadwood, and protecting threatened species.

We are also actively developing new ways to enhance forest biodiversity. As a recent example we have started testing transplanting threatened wood-inhabiting fungi into our Finnish forests.

To make sure our actions are working, we monitor the status of forest nature by using selected biodiversity indicators: tree species, forest age, forest structure, protected areas, valuable habitats, habitat restoration, species and habitat projects, and indicator development.

We also protect biodiversity on our lands in Uruguay – all valuable biodiversity hotspots and native species are protected. The Chasico conservation area and UPM Biofore Station Palmares del Cuico in western Uruguay are both great examples of how responsibly managed plantations can co-exist in harmony with local ecosystems and communities.

 

 

Read also

UPM Pulp Sustainability Handbook

UPM Pulp Sustainability Handbook

Explore handbook
UPM has followed a clear vision and strategy on how to establish, develop and manage eucalyptus plantations sustainably.

UPM has followed a clear vision and strategy on how to establish, develop and manage eucalyptus plantations sustainably.

Read more
The planning of land use is the most essential phase for the successful and long-term sustainability of forestry activities.

The planning of land use is the most essential phase for the successful and long-term sustainability of forestry activities.

Read more
 

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