Metso will continue its collaboration with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) by supporting the goals and activities related to the main theme of the WWF’s 50th anniversary, the Year of Forests. Metso and four other main collaboration partners support the WWF program aiming to stop global deforestation and to conserve the biodiversity of Finnish forests. The collaboration aims to diversify current forest management practices and to increase forest management methods that mimic the structural characteristics of natural forests.

The Year of Forests project aims to spark a dialogue about how companies and consumers alike can impact forest conservation and maintain forest diversity through the choices they make. Additionally, Metso is participating in a forum about the role of Finnish forests in the mitigation of climate change. Based on the dialogue, a discussion paper will be prepared that highlights the opportunities and challenges related to the role of Finnish forests in the mitigation of climate change and bioenergy production. The discussion paper will outline the different views on the direction of Finnish forest management with consideration also to the ecological, social and economic sustainability and their potential in the effective mitigation of climate change.

Metso and WWF have been collaboration partners for several years. During this time Metso has supported WWF’s Operation Mermaid campaign to save the Baltic Sea and the Naturewatch program related to environmental education for students.

Metso engages in collaboration and supports its collaboration partners’ projects in the areas of youth work, environment and nature conservation, as well as science, research and education. Our collaboration with universities is tight, and we aim to support also vocational training and youth work especially in emerging markets. For example, in Sorocaba, Brazil, we support a project that gives underprivileged youth vocational training in the metal sector. Already 360 young people have taken part in the training program that began in 1990. Additionally, Metso is a partner in the SOS Children’s Villages in Faridabad, India, and in Vereeniging and Rustenberg, South Africa.