In the pilot project, the landowner Finsilva will produce nature values, which will be purchased by the S Group. Tapio Palvelut Oy is coordinating the project and LocalTapiola will be its development partner. The nature value hectares will be verified by the Finnish Supervisory Agency (former Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment).
Current publicly-funded measures to improve the quality of the environment are not sufficient to combat the advancing loss of biodiversity. Market-based models and private funding are needed to achieve the objectives set in the EU Nature Restoration Regulation.
“This marks the beginning of testing an innovative approach and the introduction of new tools to strengthen the state of nature. The pilot results will be used to assess the functionality of the nature values production process and the profitability, viability and necessity of brokerage services,” says Hanna-Leena Tevä, Project Manager, Director of Development and Sustainability at Tapio Group.
Actions to support biodiversity are increasingly emphasised in companies’ sustainability work. Companies are searching for new ways to have a positive effect on the state of nature.
“As a buyer of nature values, it is important to us that the project is based in Finland, it has been evaluated together with the local cooperative PeeÄssä and the nature values are verified by a reliable body. We are constantly seeking new best practices and aim to represent companies in the establishment of a voluntary nature values market. Actors across sectors are needed in the fight against biodiversity loss,” says Nina Elomaa, Chief Sustainability Officer at S Group.
A new source of income for landowners? In this project, the site of nature values trading is a drained peatland of approximately 12 hectares that contains weak trees that began to grow there following the drainage of 1960s. To restore the peatland, the ditches will be blocked up and most of the evaporative trees will be removed. As a result of water economy restoration, the peatland species will recover, and the area’s nature values will improve.
“Biodiversity is boosted by marked-based nature values trading. More landowners are needed to produce nature values – nature values trading provides a new source of income for landowners and it facilitates the joint achievement of environmental and financial objectives,” says Juha Hakkarainen, Managing Director at Finsilva.
“In order to establish a broader nature value market in Finland, more pilot projects like this with actual actors are needed to obtain truthful information about the nature values trading process,” says Marika Makkonen, Lead in Forestry Business Development at LocalTapiola.
A site suitable for nature values trading was chosen for the pilot project. It meets the criteria related to the S Group’s restoration objectives, such as mitigation of eutrophication and forest restoration. When restored, the peatland will retain nutrient and solids runoffs, potentially generating favourable effects on the state of aquatic life in the water system below the project site.
When selecting the site, the project participants wanted to ensure that the state of nature could be improved without compromising other values in the area. The site’s forestry value is low due to the weak tree growth. The restoration measures will generate biodiversity benefits without significantly undermining the economic values. Nature values production without the aim of ecological compensation
The pilot project does not involve an aspect of ecological compensation. This means that the state of nature is improved, and nature values are produced at the project site without the intention of compensating for nature values worsened or environmental damage identified elsewhere. It is a market-led way to finance measures to improve the state of nature. Nature values are expressed as nature value hectares to allow environmental actions to be translated into objectives, compared and verified. The exact amount of nature values as nature value hectares will be determined as the project progresses.
