Kone Foundation awards over two million euros to help establish nature value market in Finland 

Through its Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative, Kone Foundation is awarding a total of 2.2 million euros to three projects that promote the launch of a nature value market in Finland. The recipients are projects by Ilmari Räsänen Foundation, MTK (The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners), and the Päijät-Häme Forest Management Association. 

The Metsän puolella initiative views economic steering mechanisms based on the “polluter pays” principle as essential for halting biodiversity loss. A parallel can be found in climate change mitigation: within the EU, emissions have been reduced most effectively in the emissions trading sector, where carbon dioxide emissions carry a price.

In a nature value market, those causing ecological harm would be required to purchase certified offsets—nature value hectares—to compensate for their actions by improving the state of nature elsewhere through ecological compensation. In practice, this would mean acquiring compensation through the nature value market.

While Finland’s Nature Conservation Act defines how ecological compensation should be conducted, it remains voluntary at this stage. 

For a functioning nature value market to emerge, demand, supply, intermediaries, and a platform for exchange are all needed.

“Businesses are increasingly interested in ecological compensation and nature value markets, but a major bottleneck is the lack of available nature values for sale. This is the challenge we want to address,” says Mari Pantsar, Change Manager for Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella initiative. 

Among the funded projects, Ilmari Räsänen Foundation aims to increase supply by restoring land areas and obtaining official certification for them. In other words, nature value hectares for ecological compensation are pre-certified and ready for purchase. This reduces the bottleneck in supply. The project also aims to create an entirely new foundation-based conservation mechanism to help fill the gap left by insufficient public conservation funding.

The project by MTK (The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners) focuses on developing and implementing tools that support the functionality of legally defined nature value markets, such as the luontoarvo.fi trading platform. The aim is to simultaneously promote biodiversity and expand landowners’ opportunities for new sources of income. In addition, forest management associations will roll out service models that help landowners entering the nature value market meet the legal requirements related to ecological compensation. Through pilots and by developing practical operating models, the project ensures that voluntary ecological compensation and the trading of nature values can evolve into a credible and profitable market, becoming a regular part of landowners’ economic activity.

The Päijät-Häme Forest Management Association’s project develops a model for a comprehensive nature value plan, enabling forest owners to assess the benefits and income of various land use options. These values might include carbon sequestration, biodiversity, conservation, and active nature management. Based on the plan, forest owners can receive a plot-specific sales plan for nature values, which helps them seek funding through the nature value market.

“Once the nature value market is properly up and running, it will create new business and income opportunities for land restorers, intermediary organizations, and landowners. In the future, we want to work more closely with forest owners and help enable new earning models,” says Mari Pantsar. 

All projects receiving funding submitted a detailed project plan to Kone Foundation, which formed the basis for the funding. The Foundation’s board approved the funding decisions at its June meeting. 

The Metsän puolella initiative was launched in 2023. To date, it has funded research, art, activism, and journalism projects related to forests with over 12 million euros. 

More information: 

Mari Pantsar

Change Manager, Kone Foundation Metsän puolella

+358 (0)50 382 0755 mari.pantsar@koneensaatio.fi