The Finnish Forest Association has designed a meeting room at the forestry department of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) in Rome.
Northern hardwood birch has been used in the Finnish Forestry Room which Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen described as a sign of the appreciation Finland has for the FAO and the work of its forestry department.
He said: “My government is trying to promote the sound use of wood as an environmentally friendly – and pleasant – raw material. In our National Forest Programme we have a target to increase the value added by the woodworking industry. Although Finland is a country with much forest and a tradition regarding the use of wood, it is possible to increase the use.”
Mr Vanhanen said the government and timber industry’s wood promotion campaign “Time for Wood” has doubled the use of wood per capita in less than 10 years.
“We are currently starting two policy programmes – one directed at developing the woodworking industry and the other to increase the use of wood in house building in Finland.”
He said that in both programmes, networking between small and medium-sized companies would play an important role.
Finnish Forest Association board member Hannu Valtanen said the FAO room reflects contemporary Finland. He described it as serene and functional, combining traditional materials with high technology and competence.
