Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth based on forests and bioeconomy

By creating an innovative milieu and investing in infrastructure, decision makers in North Karelia expect to increase employment opportunities and to raise the economic benefits obtained from forests.

North Karelia, the home region of the Koli Forum, is the easternmost region of Finland and also that of the continental European Union, sharing a common border of approximately 300 km with Russia.

In the regional development strategies, a lot of emphasis has been put on the higher value added and especially more innovative utilisation of forest resources.

During the past three decades, North Karelia, and particularly the city of Joensuu, has become to a centre of know-how in forest sector. The initial stimulators were the establishment of the Joensuu Research Station of the Finnish Forest Research Institute (LUKE nowadays) in 1981 and the start of university education in forestry in 1982. The region is also home of the European Forest Institute which started its operation in 1993.

The rich combination of forest resources, forest industries and forestry know-how in the region has led to that North Karelia is called the “Region of Forests in Europe”, and the City of Joensuu the “European Forest Capital”.

By creating an innovative milieu and investing in infrastructure, decision makers expect the applications related to bioeconomy to increase employment opportunities and to raise the economic benefits obtained from forests.

Forest-related activities have a significant impact on employment with over 5,000 people earning their living directly from forestry or forest industry - and taking into account the income effect from timber sales to the forest owners, this figure is even doubled. The sector is the most important provider of export income in the region.

A total of 1,6 million ha, which makes 90 % of the total land area of North Karelia, is classified as forests and other wood land. Forest ownership is divided almost equally into four categories: state, companies, farmers and private non-farmers. There are close to 20 000 private forest owners in the region.

Income from forestry is particularly crucial in rural areas. Forestry also represents a particularly influential sphere of activities in industrial production in North Karelia. Several large sawmills, Enocell – one of the world’s largest cellulose factory, John Deere and Kesla – leading manufacturers of forestry logging and hauling machinery, and many other firms are operating in the region.

As to the employment generation, bioenergy, mechanical wood processing, together with applications in material technology and the use of wood for construction, offer the most promising future prospects. Large-scale forest industry companies form the back-bone of regional income generation, even though they are nowadays less dependent on regional timber supply.

It has to be emphasised that it is not only the forest products industry or intensified use of forest resources, but also the multiple use of forests that can create new job opportunities and widen the occupational base of rural regions.