PKMO, the association of forest owners living in the Helsinki metropolitan area, is a network of urban forest-owners. PKMO has more than 1,000 members living in Helsinki and the surrounds. The forests owned by our members are located in various parts of Finland. PKMO was established in 1984.
We are an active organisation, arranging various kinds of events with varying subjects, such as forest as an investment choice, forest certification and controlled change of forest ownership. We arrange excursions that are interesting for their forestry and forest management characteristics; themes can include, for example, the ordering of forest work or an arboretum visit.
We update our members with information on topical developments in forestry. Every month, we issue the PKMO newsletter to our members. PKMO is also often asked to provide an opinion when amendments to forestry acts are under consideration. In these cases, we provide the view of an urban forest-owner. We participate in the annual Finnish forest exhibition where we offer information on our activities.
PKMO is an independent association but we work in cooperation with various parties operating in forestry.
The association is run by the board, which consists of six members and three substitute members.
For more information, please contact Ms. Aino Törmälä, the Chair of the association, by sending an email to: aino.tormala (at) live.fi
Forests in Finland
More than three quarters of Finland are covered by forests. A little more than 50% of forestry land is owned by private persons and families. A third is owned by the state and the rest by companies, municipalities, parishes and societies. The average size of a forest property is approximately 30 hectares. More and more forest owners live far away from their forests.
Finland belongs to a coniferous forest belt. The most common wood species are pine, spruce and birch, while there are a total of approximately 30 wild wood species in Finland. The majority of Finnish forests are mixed forests. Approximately 13% of Finnish forests are conserved.
Forestry has a high importance for the Finnish national economy. Forestry directly employs approximately 42,000 people in Finland and 46,000 people in other countries of operation. 15% of industrial jobs in Finland are in forestry. The share of forestry export of the Finnish total exports is approximately 20%.
