Counterforce to nature-destroying policies

Mari Pantsar, the Change Manager of the Metsän puolella (“In the Woods”) initiative, hopes that the enthusiasm and courage generated through action will overcome anxiety and doubt when the goal is sustainable use of forests.

In the third round of funding, Kone Foundation granted a total of €3 million to 16 projects. In total, the Foundation has provided around €8 million in funding over the past year to groups that bring new perspectives to the debate on the significance of forests through science, art, activism, and journalism.

This is a substantial contribution from a single foundation. It is particularly significant because our government has shown that nature conservation and stopping the climate crisis are not on its list of priorities. On the contrary, measures and funding that have been inadequate to begin with are still being cut back.

This seems bizarre because on one hand, it is being said we must balance the economy for the sake of our children and therefore we must cut environmental funding. On the other hand, the basis for our children’s future, nature, is being eroded.

The Metsän puolella initiative is funding several projects that turn their gaze to the future, many of which also provide solutions to today’s problems.

Among the projects funded in this round, Jan Saijets’ team is using AI to map unprotected natural forests in the Sámi region. The funding continues Kone Foundation’s long-standing support for mapping old-growth and natural forests, work that has not been the focus of government investment. We now hope that decision-makers will take note of these long-term efforts to implement the conservation pledge in their government programme. The important question here is what kind of forest will be left for our children if we destroy old and natural forests.

Funding was also given to Long Play Media for a project which delves into power relations in forest land use, and to the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation for a project campaigning for municipal forests. In addition, a project led by Nina Rantala was funded, where soil microbial communities that have evolved over thousands of years can be used in a concrete way in the medical care of a psychiatric hospital that is currently under construction.

But mitigating the climate crisis and halting biodiversity loss is not just about money. It is also about understanding, values and hope. It is about the will and the chance to tackle the structures that are destroying the future, somewhere beyond our reach.

With the Metsän puolella initiative, we want the enthusiasm and courage that stem from action to overcome anxiety and doubt. This hope is not based on hollow phrases that everything will be better, nor is it based on money alone.

Indeed, the Metsän puolella community already involves more than 50 actors or working groups, bringing together scientists, artists, activists and journalists. It is important to bring together actors with different approaches to the meaning of forests. Science alone has not been successful in triggering the necessary scale of action. The importance of change must also be felt at heart. We want to show that sustainable use of forests is not only possible, but also beneficial for us, for future generations and for the precious nature of the whole planet.

The Metsän puolella community meetings have shown that a positive counterforce for a good future exists. And it is growing stronger all the time.

Browse all the funded projects in the Metsän puolella initiative