UPM and FSC® announce a global strategic partnership

The partnership aims at delivering benefits to forest owners through FSC certification and to increase the FSC-certified wood supply. UPM has actively cooperated with FSC both on international and national level for several years. The company has been involved in developing the FSC certification in order to enhance its applicability to the fragmented private forest ownership in Finland. This work will be strengthened through the newly agreed partnership.

“We are delighted to formalize our collaboration with UPM. It is vitally important that FSC has a strong relationship with sustainability leaders of the paper and forest products industry to expand the FSC footprint globally. We agree on the importance of FSC for all parties in the value chain from forest owners to consumers. UPM and FSC also share a common understanding of the importance of responsible forestry and the sustainable use of wood in the bioeconomy”, says Kim Carstensen, Director General, Forest Stewardship Council.

“UPM’s customers take a growing interest in the company’s environmental performance and the sustainability of its operations. Third-party verified certificates give them useful information about the responsibility of UPM products”, says Heikki Vappula, EVP, UPM Biorefining.

“The global partnership is a natural continuation to UPM Biofore strategy and to our valuable cooperation with FSC. FSC certification is an excellent tool for promoting responsible forestry. Our joint target is to extend the use of the FSC system in general as well as to develop UPM forest management and solutions for group certification to expand in the Finnish private smallholder structure”, Vappula continues.

To promote the certification of privately owned forests in Finland, UPM established an FSC group certification scheme in 2012. In 2016, the scheme (FSC C 109750) grew to cover about 300,000 hectares of private forest.