Long-term goals 

• To preserve and to sensibly increase biological diversity in managed forests to the level which is appropriate to the main goals of each territorial management structure, as well as to preserve the role of forest ecosystems in protecting soil, bodies of water and landscapes;
• To preserve and to develop objects that are under the management of the company and are of public importance in terms of recreation, culture, history or the environment.

Strategy

The goal of LVM in protecting the environment is to preserve biological diversity (genetic resources, species which are rare or are threatened by economic activity) and the related process of protecting soil, bodies of water and landscape:

• To engage in constant monitoring of territories that are of importance in terms of preserving the biological diversity of species and habitats, as well as places in which the forest is of key importance in protecting the various components of the environment – bodies of water, soil and landscapes (i.e., these are all locations which are of importance in terms of preserving natural and environmental value).
• To manage forests in an environmentally friendly way and in line with the main goals of each territorial management structure.  In those territories with special goals, individual management plans are to be designed:
•      Between 8 and 10% of the forest is to be managed with the goal of preserving biological diversity, preventing economic activities, and planning steps to be taken so as to preserve and enhance biological diversity;
•      Between 10 and 12% of the forest is to be managed with the goal of preserving the environmental value of the forest – protecting soil, bodies of water and landscapes and ensuring opportunities for the public to receive information and to engage in recreation in the forest;
•      The rest of the forest is to be managed with the goal of obtaining highly valuable timber – as much as possible, doing so in accordance with the defined average size of trees, as defined by law.
• To draft and, by the end of 2008, to introduce an ecological planning model related to landscapes.
• To reduce as much as possible the impact which LVM economic operations have on the environment, minimising the use of chemicals to protect flora in the forest and, in 2005, beginning to use biologically degradable oils in all forest work.
• To enhance understanding among company employees, co-operation partners and the public at large when it comes to sustainable forest management and environmental protection at LVM.
• To reduce the danger of potentially polluted or otherwise hazardous territories and objects that are managed by the company.
• When it comes to social issues, the goals of LVM include the establishment of a safe working environment and to promote the development of a social environment (recreation, education, culture, history), all the while ensuring the transparency of the company’s operations.

Investments are to be made in those objects which are managed by LVM, are of public importance, and serve a recreational, cultural, historical or environmental purpose.  Development of these resources will be financed through an amount of money that is equal to 1.5% of the company’s profits.

Environmental protection and forest management

• Each year, individual management plans are to be drafted for 10 or 15 territories with specific management goals.
• By 2006, an inventory of the forest is to be taken in all managed forests, studying those places which are of importance in preserving the genetic resources of the forest, which are threatened by economic activity, or which involve protected species and ecosystems.  The focus is also to be placed on locations in which the forest is of key importance in protecting soil, bodies of water or landscapes.  A geographic information system for forest management is to be established.
• At least 20% of the forest will be managed with goals that are not related to earning a profit from timber and other parts of the forest.  Elsewhere, however, the goal is to be the extraction of as much highly valuable timber as possible, doing so in accordance with the defined average size of trees, as defined by law.
• The impact of economic activities on the environment is to be reduced:
•      In planning economic activities – construction of forest infrastructure, planting of forest, use of peat moss, etc. – there is to be evaluation of the environmental impact of such processes on protected natural territories, on species, biotopes, bodies of water and flowing waterways, with appropriate solutions being sought out each time.
•      We will take part in national environmental monitoring processes and develop the monitoring system in our own company.  Monitoring of non-timber value in the forest was begun in 2004.
•      The use of chemicals in protecting the flora of the forest is to be minimised.
• The methodology for determining those areas of the forest which are of particularly high value is to be improved.
• Investments will be made in the preservation and development of those objects in managed forests which are of public, cultural or environmental importance.