Blog by Martta Fredrikson: Voluntary action makes a difference: For 30 years, donations by forest owners have financed forest excursions for children

For thirty years now, Finnish forest owners have been able to support the forest sector’s joint work for the future by making a voluntary donation when concluding a timber deal. Each year, thanks to these donations, thousands of schoolchildren have the opportunity to visit forests and learn about their use. Each year, too, these donations fund dozens of research projects and projects involving communication and forest nature.

The Finnish Forest Foundation, whose activity mainly relies on donations, was set up in 1995. This joint initiative by the forest sector united forest owners and timber buyers for the common goal of giving the forest industries and livelihoods a stronger voice and supporting research in the field. The foundation’s activity is based on a unique co-operation: for each donation by a forest owner, the buyer donates twice the sum.

During its thirty years of activity, the Finnish Forest Foundation has funded, among others, the promotion of wood construction, the marketing of forest certification, and communication projects targeted to both Finnish and international audiences.

In 2024, the foundation granted over two million euros to cooperation with schools, research, communication to decision-makers and, as the newest addition, to projects concerned with forest nature. With the latter, the Finnish Forest Foundation wants to support the sector in adopting proactive biodiversity and climate measures. Support to science and research, as the second most important area of funding, has enabled the setting up of professorships, a nationwide survey to forest owners and numerous studies on the social significance of the forest sector, to name but a few. The most recent of such studies deal with the inclusion of biodiversity indicators in the National Forest Inventory and with tree species in the changing climate.

Since its early years, supporting the forest education of schoolchildren has played an important part in the foundation’s activity. The aim is to give children an opportunity to gain positive experiences in and of forests and of their use. The school cooperation financed by the Finnish Forest Foundation includes several long-lived and well known activities, such as the Forest Quiz for lower secondary schools, the Business Village Primary School and the 4H Forest Days. Several one-off successes have also been achieved, including the widely popular digital game Hiidenportti [Goblin’s Gate], a combination of Finnish forestry, folklore and sci-fi.

In the course of its anniversary year 2025, too, the Finnish Forest Foundation strives to highlight the forest education of children and young people. The project Kaikki kuutoset metsään is designed to bring all sixth-graders to the forest for one day.

This large-scale project has attracted a great deal of attention, and the piloting during the first year has established the project’s importance. The key aspect is the emotional one – experiencing the forest and taking home a positive memory of it.

Among both Finnish foundations and forest organizations, the Finnish Forest Foundation is a relative newcomer. Having achieved thirty years feels rather modest in comparison to the hundred years of others. Even so, we have good reason to be proud: voluntary action does make a difference.

Voluntary donations to the Finnish Forest Foundation are currently made in connection with one timber deal in three. Each year, several tens of thousands of forest owners support the Finnish Forest Foundation. Thanks to them, the foundation has been able to bring its annual grants level to about two million euros and to open up a pathway to the forest for Finnish schoolchildren. This is the activity we will continue with, as we step into a new decade.