UPM plants thousands of trees with school children

(UPM, Helsinki, 22 May 2012 at 10.15 EET) - UPM organises a global Plant a Tree Day each year in spring and especially on May 22^nd, the UN International Day for Biodiversity. This year school children and other stakeholders in Finland, the UK, Russia, China, the US and Uruguay participated in Plant a Tree events.

In Finland the school children and UPM forest professionals plant trees together in Pyhäjärvi, Nokia and Joroinen. UPM participates also as a partner in the ENO tree planting day in Espoo, one of the global events organized by ENO Environment Online. The seedlings for these events come from UPM’s nursery in Joroinen, which produces high quality seedlings of native origin to be used to regenerate UPM forest service customers’ and UPM company forests.

“A tree seedling and a school child are creators of the future,” says Päivi Salpakivi-Salomaa, Vice President, UPM Environment. “Planting a tree is an investment and good for the climate. A growing tree sequestrates atmospheric carbon throughout its lifetime. The new forest improves the quality of surface and ground waters, it creates the preconditions for berry and mushroom production and makes a habitat for hundreds of other species.” 

Every year UPM plants more than 50 million tree seedlings. The long time span of sustainable forestry materialises in tree planting. Forest regeneration is a central element of responsible forest management.

Wood is a versatile renewable raw material for various useful products which can be used e.g. in the construction and joinery industry, as printing and writing paper, in packaging, tissue paper, bandages, clothes, the pharmaceutical industry or as an energy source. Wood makes no waste, the products are recyclable and in the end they can be used for bioenergy production.

For more information please contact:
Mr Petri Heinonen, Environment Manager, UPM, Forestry, tel. +358 40 180 1137
Mr Sami Oksa, Environment Manager, UPM, Forestry, tel. +358 40 560 3474

UPM , Corporate Communications
Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284
media@upm.com
 

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 24,000 people and it has production plants in 16 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com     

ENO Environment Online is a global virtual school and network for sustainable development. Over 10,000 schools from 150 countries have taken part since 2000. One of its targets is that school children around the world will plant 100 million trees by the end 2017. UPM has supported its activities for several years. www.enoprogramme.org