Suomussalmi’s mussel destruction|Paula Lehtomäki, CEO of Metsäteollisuus ry, said a couple of weeks ago that the brutal destruction was an exceptional case. Since then, more suspicions have been revealed. However, he still holds on to the extraordinary nature of the events.
Forest industry companies the managing director of the trustee Metsäteollisuus ry Paula Lehtomäki still considers the mass destruction of river pearl loops, i.e. raw, which took place in Suomussalmi’s Hukkajoki, an exceptional case. That is, even in spite of the fact that recently other barren areas have also been exposed to activities that violate the Nature Conservation Act.
“I still consider the Hukkajoki events to be exceptional in terms of their proportions and methods of operation,” Lehtomäki said on Monday.
Lehtomäki referred to the exceptional nature of the events in Hukkajoki a couple of weeks ago in an interview with HS.
“It’s hard for me to think that indifference would be revealed or be very widespread,” commented Lehtomäki for HS on August 24.
So he says that he still sticks to his words, even though indifference has since been revealed in other raw places.
Hukkajoki contrary to the authorities’ instructions, a forest machine loaded with logs was driven over hundreds of times, which killed thousands of highly endangered river pearl mussels directly and especially indirectly by messing up the river. The river was crossed at the same point also in the previous logging in 2012.
HS said on Mondaythat the crossing of the Hukkajoki raakkujoki, which was investigated as a serious nature conservation crime, took place in accordance with the logging plan. So it was most obviously not just a matter of a bad choice of a single forest machine driver. Instead, the driver followed the instructions he received about the place to cross the river and the place to store the felled trees.
Stora Enso has previously stated that the logging plan was drawn up at Stora Enso.
Last week, based on Stora Enso’s own notification, the ely center inspected the logging site located in Kainuu in Puolanga. Also there is suspected to have occurred activities in violation of the Nature Conservation Act on the river Raakkujoki.
In August, Metsähallitus carried out an open felling in Kainula’s pearl mussel river, where the 45-meter protection zone typically recommended by the supervising authority was not followed, but an opening was cut 10–15 meters from the shore.
Even though more cases have been revealed, Lehtomäki reminds that, in the totality of wood procurement, it is still a small amount. In Finland, 130,000 forest use notifications are made every year.
Lehtomäki emphasizes that a lot of work is constantly being done in the forest industry to strengthen natural diversity. But more needs to be done, Lehtomäki admits.
“We have a big Savotta ahead of us,” he says.
A couple in his interview a week ago, Lehtomäki said that the forestry industry should ensure “people’s good knowledge and the right attitude at every point of the value chain”. With this, he indicated that the forest company must also ensure the competence of subcontractors in environmental matters.
On Monday, however, it became clear that the cause of the mass destruction of the trees was not necessarily the incompetence or indifference of the subcontractors, as the logging plan had been made at Stora Enso.
Stora Enso has communicated from the beginning that they have guidelines for the protection of raw rivers, which were not followed in this case.
Previously, Stora Enso has not specified whether the non-compliance occurred at the end of a subcontractor or in-house. Now it strongly appears that it happened inside the house.
Paula Lehtomäki, should good knowledge and the right attitude be emphasized above all at the top of the value chain, i.e. in forest companies?
“That needs to be emphasized throughout the value chain,” Lehtomäki is content to say.
According to him, in all stages of the process, it is necessary to be able to ensure that the instructions are adhered to.
Surroundings– and the climate minister Kai Mykkänen (kok) refused to comment on the raw matter on Monday. On Tuesday, Mykkänen will meet the leaders of the forest companies, after which he will hold a press conference at around 4:30 p.m.
However, Mykkänen stated in a text message that “in general, what I have said before about illegalities and that the companies must show that in the future the actions correspond to the promises is valid”.
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