Private?Forest Owners?Need Knowledge, Support?and a?Strong?Community?

Demand for managing one’s own forest through the principles of continuous cover forestry is outpacing the knowledge and expertise available. Silva, the Finnish Association for Continuous Cover Forestry, aims to address this gap by supporting forest owners who wish to respect nature values and wish to keep their managed forests continuously tree-covered.

What is It About?

The project?Regenerative Knowledge and Action for Forest Owners, run by Silva, produces information tailored to forest owners’ needs and supports activities related to continuous cover forestry ― that is, the transition to a forest management approach in which the forest is kept continuously tree-covered.
The project aims to build strong peer learning communities among forest owners and encourage their active agency. Through practical examples, concrete methods, and research-based knowledge, the project supports learning and implementation of nature-centred forestry that can also maintain and improve the state of ecosystems. As forest owners’ knowledge grows and they receive support from the network, the project pushes Finland’s forestry sector towards operating within the limits of nature’s carrying capacity.
The four-year project is divided into workstreams focusing on peer support, mapping of personal goals, knowledge-building, online platforms, and communications.
The project team includes Arja Alikoivisto (Master of Science in Economics, Master of Natural Resources), Eeva Huttunen (Master of Arts), entrepreneur Jarkko Lehtopelto, Juuso Joona (Master of Science in Agriculture and Forestry), and Yrj? Norokorpi (Doctor of Forest Sciences, Docent).

Demand had clearly been building.

When word of Silva’s project supporting continuous cover forestry spread among forest owners, people came flooding in, says Eeva Huttunen, the project’s communications coordinator.

“The first Mets?kumppanit group had to be recruited with some effort, but the second one came together almost on its own.”

Mets?kumppanit ― Forest Partners ― is one of Silva’s workstreams. It is a peer network for private forest owners where members learn, ask questions, and support one another, and where the Partners themselves organise events related to continuous cover forestry or other nature-conscious forest management in their own forests.

“At the end of May, one Partner is already hosting their second event, on the theme of transitioning from a seed-tree stand to continuous cover forestry. In the summer, there’s a cycling event planned along the Oulujoki river, where a Partner will talk about the forest sites you pass along the way,” says Arja Alikoivisto, the project lead.

The Bar For Knowledge Is High in Forest Discussions

Finland has over 600,000 private forest owners. They own 60 per cent of forest land, 70 per cent of carbon sinks, and sell 80 per cent of the domestic timber used by industry.

According to a 2020 study, 25 per cent of them practise continuous cover forestry in their forests, in whole or in part. A survey conducted the same year by Pellervo Economic Research found that as many as 57 per cent reported having transitioned fully or partially to continuous cover forestry.

Once a month, Silva hosts an online morning coffee session, inviting a researcher or forestry expert to share their expertise. Alikoivisto says participants have found the sessions almost therapeutic: a space where they can openly ask questions and share their own uncertainties about forestry matters.

“Even basic terminology can be a struggle. Someone said they had never dared to ask what ‘energy wood’ actually means. And of course, for one person it’s a tree you hug and draw energy from, and for another it’s wood sold to be burned.”

According to Alikoivisto, many forest owners are quite hesitant to bring their own perspective into conversations. At Silva’s events, people have felt liberated to share their experiences and feelings openly, without anyone immediately challenging them.

Forest owners also seem to feel a particular need for support in navigating disagreements between generations.

“Questions related to generational transitions have come up at many events. They can involve strong emotions and family tensions, when established family customs and traditions around forest management push people to do things the way they always have. There are also situations where someone has wanted to do things differently, but then found it hard to access information or services,” says Jarkko Lehtopelto, the project’s concept and communications specialist and chair of the association.

Alikoivisto adds that one Partner realised during a project workshop what argument would work to convince her father of the merits of continuous cover forestry: she wants to leave the forest richer in nature values than it is today.

Systemic Change, One Forest Owner At a Time

Silva’s project is wide-ranging and ambitious. Other workstreams gather and share information tailored to forest owners’ needs, and develop a model for interaction between forest owners and forestry professionals. They also build online platforms, produce barometer data on nature-focused forest owners, and manage external communications.

In terms of forest use, the project is pursuing systemic change.

“What that system looks like varies by context. Systemic change can start with making alternatives visible and presenting them well, communicating that there is another way,” says Lehtopelto.

Finland has historically had relatively strong regulation of forest use. It was only with the new Forest Act, which came into force in 2014, that continuous cover forestry became possible at all. Until then, whenever a forest reached a certain age, the owner was required to carry out clear-cutting. If you chose instead to do, say, high thinning, you could end up in court, says Alikoivisto.

As a result, Finland has a well-established network and deep expertise in rotation forestry methods, namely clear-cutting. Until 2014, every forest owner was also required to belong to their local forest management association, which would be consulted as harvests approached and would often draw up the harvest plan as well. This means expertise there still largely lies in rotation forestry.

“Systemic change is a big thing, but it can happen one forest owner at a time,” says Alikoivisto.

Expertise Across the Country

According to the 2025 Climate?and Nature Barometer, 75 per cent of Finns believe that more attention should be paid to how forests are harvested and managed, in order to preserve the carbon sinks that are running low. Clear-cutting is also the leading cause of biodiversity loss.

Finland is also a country of diverse forest types, and a one-size-fits-all approach, those interviewed say, fits poorly with reality.

According to Huttunen, the variety of different forests has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the project. Forest owners come from all over Finland, and their challenges can be very different.

“That’s why we also encourage them to collaborate locally.”

Huttunen adds that once knowledge starts to accumulate, forest owners always have their own forest where they can put it into practice.

“One forest owner said that their own forest is a laboratory for the sustainability transition.”

Lehtopelto says that a key goal for both the association and the project is to make the practice, need, and expertise around continuous cover forestry visible across the country.

“There are individual professionals who have specialised in continuous cover forestry, but we don’t have them on a map. So one goal is to make this activity visible through forest owners, and in doing so, encourage professionals to offer these services too. There is demand for continuous cover forestry services everywhere in Finland.”

Forest Owners Hold Real Power

The project’s next step is to advance a workstream called Mets?tahto ― Forest Intent.

In it, individual forest owners define the management practices for their own forest by completing a goal-mapping exercise. The mapping process identifies what matters most to the owner in caring for their forest, whether that is strengthening carbon sinks, protecting nearby waterways, or supporting biodiversity. At the same time, the owner learns how to work towards these goals in practice: in the case of waterways, for example, by leaving a buffer strip of a certain width around them. The owner ends up with a document they can use when working with a forest planner.

According to Huttunen, the project is not focused solely on continuous cover forestry, but also on incorporating nature values into forest use more broadly. The morning coffee sessions have covered topics such as how to create good bird habitat and how to support soil health in forest planning.

“As an association, we absolutely support conservation as well. Alongside that, however, we want to bring in the perspective that forests can be used economically while giving greater consideration to nature values, and without clear-cutting.”

Huttunen reminds us that private forest owners have considerable room to act.

“If you think about the possibility for change ― it is entirely in their hands.”

And that is exactly what we want to strengthen, Alikoivisto adds.

“As a forest owner, you hold real power. You make the decisions ― but at the same time, you need support, community, and peers.”

In continuous cover forestry, the forest is kept permanently tree-covered, which means no clear-cutting is done. The aim is to maintain a forest with a variety of native tree species and trees of different ages. In harvesting, mainly sawlog-sized trees are removed, but larger trees are always also left standing to support biodiversity and seed production.

In Finland, forest use has historically been strongly regulated. For decades, even-aged forestry based on clear-cutting was practically the only permitted method of forest management. In 2014, continuous cover forestry was allowed, and has attracted increasing interest among forest owners.

Finnish forestry still largely relies on even-aged management based on clear-cutting. Clear-cutting is the main cause of declining biodiversity, and a clear-cut area can act as a source of carbon emissions for decades. With continuous cover forestry, it is possible to produce high-quality timber while taking the forest’s diverse values into account.

Knowledge of continuous cover forestry is increasing as forest owners demand alternatives. Systemic change can happen one forest owner at a time.

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