UPM Applies for FSC certification for its Own Forests in Finland

UPM, Helsinki, 15 March 2011 at 11:00 EET) - UPM applies for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for its forests in Finland. At the same time UPM also extends its forest service portfolio to cover FSC-certification
services to Finnish forest owners. UPM's forests and most of the privately owned forests in Finland are already certified under PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes).

“The FSC certification of company forests increases UPM's possibilities to supply products produced from wood that is certified according to customers' request. This way we can better match our offering with customers' needs,” says
Kari Ylönen, Director, Marketing.

“We study the environmental impacts of our products through the whole lifecycle. Sustainable forest management and wood sourcing is one part of this life-cycle approach. Forest certification, like FSC and PEFC, tells about the
sustainability of product's raw material to the customer,” says Timo Lehesvirta, Director, Environment.

UPM starts the FSC certification from its forests located in Southern Finland and decides upon next steps once it has gathered some experience on FSC certification process. The preparations to implement FSC standard are on-going.

Finland's new FSC criteria were approved in January 2011 and the forest owners are able to apply for the new standard as of 1 May. Finnish FSC standard and its criteria were agreed in negotiations between environmental organisations and forest industry.

UPM aims to maximise the share of certified fibre and promotes forest certification globally. UPM tracks the origin of all wood fibre sourced by the company. The share of certified fibre in UPM products was 79% in 2010.

All UPM's forests in Finland are certified: in Finland they are certified under PEFC, in the Minnesota U.S. under SFI, in the UK under FSC and PEFC (UKWAS) and in Uruguay under FSC.

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 22,000 people and it has production plants in 15 countries. In 2010, UPM's sales amounted to EUR 8.9
billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM - The Biofore Company - www.upm.com

UPM´s Biofore strategy entails a long term commitment to environmental
responsibility through the whole lifecycle of our products and operations. Our
key areas in environmental responsibility are sustainable products, climate,
water, forest and waste. The company is focusing on the continuous development
of its performance, aiming towards achieving long term targets set for 2020.
www.upm.com/responsibility