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All guests are welcome at Ponsse’s Vieremä factory in Finland. Customers always come first, but the company also tries to find a suitable visit time for other groups, said Petri Rissanen, who is responsible for visits. Source: Timberbiz “A visit always includes at least a company presentation and a factory tour. The visit program is organized according to the group of visitors and their schedule. “In practice, for example, foreign customer groups spend several days in Finland, during which the guests can visit, for example, the test farm, the Iisalmi logistics and maintenance service center, and Einari’s former home in Mäkelä. In addition, there can be a variety of other activities, from snowmobiling to hunting,” Mr Rissanen said. The guests stay at the Ponsse Club next to the factory. The club has accommodation for 25 people, a smoke sauna, its own kitchen and a large dining room. Three people take care of the meals and maintenance of the club, and one property manager, who heats the smoke sauna, does snow removal and keeps the building in good condition. “We do not have full-time leaders, but groups are hosted by a team in accordance with the Ponsse spirit. It is interesting for customers to get to talk to Ponsse employees working in different jobs, and it is valuable for employees to meet customers and hear their feedback. Often, the company’s management or owners also meet guest groups,” Mr Rissanen said. The factory receives around 4,000 – 6,000 visitors annually. This figure does not include subcontractors, for example. Last year, visitors came from around 30 countries. “We are probably one of the busiest attractions in Upper Savo in terms of visitor numbers,” Mr Rissanen said. “When guests come from far away to Vieremä, we want to give them time and a good impression. “Ponsse is a family company, as are often the companies of dealers, service entrepreneurs and forest machinery contractors. We are interested in similar things, we have the same hobbies, and we share the same values about life and work. I hope that a visit here would feel like visiting a good friend.”  

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US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L Rollins has announced the US Forest Service is awarding US$80 million in Wood Innovation Grants to spur wood products manufacturing, expand active forest management, and accelerate energy innovation across America’s timber-producing communities. Source: Timberbiz “The United States is blessed with a bounty of natural resources that we must properly manage to sustain our future economy and boost rural communities. Proper forest use and management lowers our reliance on foreign products and is inherently aligned with President Trump’s America First agenda,” said Secretary Rollins. “We’re investing in innovation that ensures a steady, sustainable supply of American wood that not only supports jobs and fuels economies, it protects the people and communities we serve, as well as the forest resources they depend on to survive and thrive.” This investment delivers on President Trump’s commitment to unleashing America’s abundant natural resources by tearing down unnecessary barriers that have kept forests dangerously overstocked and unhealthy, putting communities at risk from wildfire and other threats. It also follows through on Secretary Rollins’ memorandums to the Forest Service (PDF, 2.9 MB) to carry out efforts to make forests more productive, $200 million timber investment in May, part of a broader strategy to advance economic opportunity and ensure long-term forest resilience through regulatory streamlining and expedited project approvals.

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In the run up to COP30, 18 forest sector companies, stewarding more than 24 million hectares (almost 60 million acres) in 21 countries, have announced a world first project led by the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition. Source: Timberbiz The companies are coming together to pilot test the application of emerging Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) principles and reporting formats given their shared acknowledgement of their stewardship of forestry assets as natural capital. The participants will use a consistent frame of reference for approaching the vast nature assets which they steward on their estates. These assets are often called ‘Natural Capital’ and provide vital ‘ecosystem services’ to business and society. The participating companies and entities are: Aurora Sustainable Lands Arauco CapMan Climate Asset Management France Valley Forestry England Forest Investment Associates Green Diamond Resource Company Gresham House Mercer International Mitsui & Co. New Forests Nippon Paper Industries Oji Holdings PotlatchDeltic Rayonier Stora Enso Sumitomo Forestry “The world must begin to increase investments with positive impacts on both climate and nature. However, if we are to attract the scale of funding required these investments must also make economic sense. The global forestry sector can deliver sustainable, renewable materials as well as positive outcomes for climate and nature. Central to this is understanding and standardising the approach to how we value the vast natural capital assets managed by these companies,” Independent Chair of the ISFC, Dr. David Brand said. Mark Gough, Chief Executive Officer of Capitals Coalition said that the contribution that the forestry sector can make to nature and climate goals has often been undervalued. “The ISFC is stepping up to address this by working with the Capitals Coalition and TNFD to grapple with this challenging issue of measuring and reporting on the natural capital which is inherently a part of their landscape wide holdings,” he said. Directly managing the project will be Rayne van den Berg, Chief Value Officer at Value Australia and former CFO of leading Australian forestry company, FORICO. “Many individual companies and thought leaders have worked for years to develop frameworks and methodologies to quantify and value Natural Capital with the aim of providing better information for more informed decision-making. This project will be a ‘game-changer’ as, for the first time, a group of forestry companies will share insights about pilot testing of natural capital accounting to understand the ecosystem services which they steward alongside their timber and fibre,” Mr van den Berg said. Tony Goldner, Chief Executive Officer of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures said that TNFD was pleased to support this global sector effort to apply natural capital accounting. Aligned with the TNFD’s open innovation and pilot testing approach to scaling practical action, ISFC has been able to bring together an impressive range of forestry sector players prepared to share insights from practical experience for the good of nature and climate outcomes. “The TNFD framework, and the LEAP process, being adopted by enterprises all over the world, provides the frame of reference for this project. The missing piece of that puzzle has been the valuation of ecosystem services, which must occur if we are to pivot globally away from nature destructive investments to nature enhancing capital flows. TNFD will utilise the learnings from this project to help inform its guidance and to demonstrate the link between TNFD nature-related assessments and natural capital accounting for valuation and to support corporate reporting,” he said.  

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A rare New Zealand species on the brink of extinction is on its way to recovery thanks to the incredible work of those determined to save it. There are just four known native forget-me-not (Myosotis petiolata) plants left in the wild and work has begun to save the species, which only grows in very niche environments in Hawke’s Bay. Source: Timberbiz One such place is at Rock Station, a property owned by Pan Pac that includes a QEII-covenanted remnant native forest area. On 10 July 2025, eight Myosotis petiolata were blessed with Karakia by Kaumatua Matiu Eru and planted at the Rock Garden, a protected area of Rock Station. These eight will be joined by about 92 more this winter with another 100 also being planted at a neighbouring forest, owned by Matariki Forests. The plants were grown from cuttings from the original four wild plants by Plant Hawke’s Bay. Over the past two years, the team at the wholesale native plant nursery have lovingly propagated over 700 new Myosotis petiolata plants. The work to secure this precious species has been a collaborative effort, in which the Department of Conservation has worked with landowners to maintain the health of the four wild plants, while Plant Hawke’s Bay, Matariki Forests, Pan Pac, Hineuru Iwi Trust, Maungaharuru Tangitū, Mana Ahuriri, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, and Whirika Consulting have been involved in delivering the re-introduction projects.  

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